%0 Journal Article %J Med Care %D 2013 %T Prevalence, risk, and correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder across ethnic and racial minority groups in the United States. %A Alegría, Margarita %A Fortuna, Lisa R %A Lin, Julia Y %A Norris, Fran H %A Gao, Shan %A Takeuchi, David T %A Jackson, James S %A Shrout, Patrick E %A Valentine, Anne %K Adolescent %K Adult %K African Americans %K Aged %K Asian Americans %K Continental Population Groups %K Ethnic Groups %K Female %K Hispanic Americans %K Humans %K Male %K Mental Disorders %K Middle Aged %K Patient Acuity %K Prevalence %K Risk Factors %K Social Support %K Socioeconomic Factors %K Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic %K United States %K Young Adult %X

OBJECTIVES: We assess whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varies in prevalence, diagnostic criteria endorsement, and type and frequency of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) among a nationally representative US sample of 5071 non-Latino whites, 3264 Latinos, 2178 Asians, 4249 African Americans, and 1476 Afro-Caribbeans.

METHODS: PTSD and other psychiatric disorders were evaluated using the World Mental Health-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) in a national household sample that oversampled ethnic/racial minorities (n=16,238) but was weighted to produce results representative of the general population.

RESULTS: Asians have lower prevalence rates of probable lifetime PTSD, whereas African Americans have higher rates as compared with non-Latino whites, even after adjusting for type and number of exposures to traumatic events, and for sociodemographic, clinical, and social support factors. Afro-Caribbeans and Latinos seem to demonstrate similar risk to non-Latino whites, adjusting for these same covariates. Higher rates of probable PTSD exhibited by African Americans and lower rates for Asians, as compared with non-Latino whites, do not appear related to differential symptom endorsement, differences in risk or protective factors, or differences in types and frequencies of PTEs across groups.

CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be marked differences in conditional risk of probable PTSD across ethnic/racial groups. Questions remain about what explains risk of probable PTSD. Several factors that might account for these differences are discussed, as well as the clinical implications of our findings. Uncertainty of the PTSD diagnostic assessment for Latinos and Asians requires further evaluation.

%B Med Care %V 51 %P 1114-23 %8 2013 Dec %G eng %N 12 %R 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000007 %0 Journal Article %J J Health Econ %D 2011 %T Psychiatric disorders and labor market outcomes: evidence from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication. %A Chatterji, Pinka %A Alegría, Margarita %A Takeuchi, David %K Adult %K Comorbidity %K Employment %K Female %K Health Surveys %K Humans %K Male %K Mental Disorders %K Models, Econometric %K Sex Distribution %K Sex Factors %K United States %X

This paper uses the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication to estimate effects of recent psychiatric disorder on employment, hours worked, and earnings. We employ methods proposed in Altonji et al. (2005a) which use selection on observable traits to provide information regarding selection along unobservable factors. Among males, disorder is associated with reductions in labor force participation and employment. When selection on observed characteristics is set equal to selection on unobserved characteristics, the magnitudes of these effects for males are 9 and 14 percentage point reductions for participation and employment, respectively. Among females, we find negative associations between disorder and labor force participation and employment, but these estimates are more sensitive to assumptions about selection. There are no effects of disorder on earnings or hours worked among employed individuals.

%B J Health Econ %V 30 %P 858-68 %8 2011 Sep %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.06.006