African-American, Latino citizens at increased risk of mental health issues

Research conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities investigates the extent to which African-American, Latino and Hispanic citizens in the US are disproportionately affected by chronic disease and mental health issues.

Overall, the greater the burden people had of specific negative life experiences over their lifetime, the more likely they were to go on to have the more severe psychological symptoms.

Published in the journal Psychological Trauma, the first of two studies by the Center looked at certain negative experiences common among low-income African-Americans and Latinos.
The researchers invited 500 low-income African-American and Hispanic people to self-report stress and mental health measures.
These included experiences of discrimination, childhood violence, poverty and trauma.
Using "structural equation modeling," the University of California-Los Angeles Center (UCLA) team mapped a correlation between accumulation of specific negative experiences and the likeliness of the subjects later experiencing psychological problems.
Overall, the greater the burden people had of these experiences over their lifetime, the more likely they were to go on to have the more severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
However, the authors say that many of the psychological problems that occur as a result of chronic life stress and trauma remain undetected and, therefore, untreated.
Gail Wyatt, a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and a senior author of both studies, explains:

"Only a small proportion of individuals with psychological distress are identified in healthcare settings, and a smaller fraction of those ever receive appropriate treatment, especially for the experiences of discrimination.
We talk about being discriminated against, but people don't learn how to cope with it effectively throughout their lives. If they don't manage it well enough, the consequences can be long-lasting and life-threatening."

The authors define five environmental factors that predict depression, anxiety and PTSD among adults.
These are:

• Experiences of discrimination due to racial, ethnic, gender or sexual orientation
• A history of sexual abuse
• A history of violence in the family or from an intimate partner
• A history of violence in an individuals' community
• A chronic fear of being killed or seriously injured.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/296000.php