ATLANTA, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Black, Hispanic and Asian adolescents are less likely than whites to receive treatment for major depression, U.S. researchers say.
Researchers at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta analyzed data from 2004 to 2008 collected from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health.
Drs. Janet R. Cummings and Benjamin G. Druss evaluated a national representative sample of 7,704 adolescents ages 12-17 diagnosed with major depression within the past year. Researchers studied the differences in treatment for depression across four racial/ethnic groups of adolescents with major depression -- non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, found the percentage of non-Hispanic whites who received any major depression treatment was 40 percent compared with 32 percent for blacks, 31 percent for Hispanics and 19 percent for Asians.
Adjusting for socioeconomic status and health insurance status accounted for only a small portion in the treatment differences, but stigma and limited proficiency in English may contribute to the lower rates of treatment in Hispanics and Asians, the researchers say.
