ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2013
Racial differences in depression in the United States: how do subgroup analyses inform a paradox?
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gender differences in depression in representative national samples: Meta-analyses of diagnoses and symptoms.Psychological bulletin · 2017Pooled it
- Do racial patterns in psychological distress shed light on the Black-White depression paradox? A systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2017Pooled it
- Comorbidities and depressive symptoms among older adults with asthma.The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma · 2022Trial
- Religious Involvement, Racial/Ethnic Disparities, and Depression: Exploring the Black-white Mental Health Paradox.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Depressive symptoms and neuroimaging markers of brain aging in an ethno-racially diverse sample: a Bayesian analysis.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Ethno-Racial Disparities in COVID-Related Stress and Mental Health Problems: Bridging Fundamental Cause Theory and the Stress Process Model.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Article
- Divergence in the size and composition of the race gap in mental health: Evidence from South Africa.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Does the Black-White mental health paradox persist across U.S. geographical regions?SSM. Mental health · 2025Article
- Mental Health Status by Race, Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status among Young Adults in Texas during COVID-19.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Veteran Reports of Anxiety and Depression Before, During, and After COVID-19: Associations With Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Traumatic Exposures.Depression and anxiety · 2025Article
- Racial and ethnic differences in the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive outcomes in older adults: Findings from KHANDLE and STAR.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Article
- Predicting Depression Risk in Patients With Cancer Using Multimodal Data: Algorithm Development Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2024Article
- Exploring the promotive pathway between ethnic-racial identity, depression and anxiety symptoms, and substance use among African American emerging adults.Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology · 2024Article
- Investigating a Paradox: Toward a Better Understanding of the Relationships Between Racial Group Membership, Stress, and Major Depressive Disorder.American journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Association between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Outcomes in Older Adults: Findings from KHANDLE and STAR.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Are Distressed Black Women Also Depressed? Implications for a Mental Health Paradox.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2023Article
- Campus outdoor environment, learning engagement, and the mental health of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: From the perspective of students in different grades.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Anxiety and Depression after Winter Storm Uri: Cascading Disasters and Mental Health Inequities.International journal of disaster risk reduction : IJDRR · 2023Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeNon-Hispanic Blacks in the US have lower rates of major depression than non-Hispanic Whites, in national household samples. This has been termed a "paradox," as Blacks suffer greater exposure to social stressors, a risk factor for depression. Subgroup analyses can inform hypotheses to explain this paradox. For example, it has been suggested that selection bias in household samples undercounts depression in Blacks; if selection is driving the paradox, Black-White differences should be most pronounced among young men with low education.
methodsWe examined Black-White differences in lifetime major depression in subgroups defined simultaneously by sex, age, and education using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) and the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES).
resultsIn NESARC and CPES, Blacks had lower odds than Whites of lifetime major depression in 21 and 23 subgroups, respectively, of 24. All statistically significant differences were in subgroups favoring Blacks, and lower odds in Blacks were more pronounced among those with more education.
conclusionsThese results suggest that hypotheses to explain the paradox must posit global mechanisms that pertain to all subgroups defined by sex, age, and education. Results do not lend support for the selection bias hypothesis.
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