Ethnicity modifies the additive effects of anxiety and drug use disorders on suicidal ideation among black adults in the United States

This study aimed to test if ethnicity moderates the additive effects of lifetime psychiatric disorders on serious suicidal thoughts among a nationally representative sample of Black adults in the United States. For this study, we used data of 5,181 Black adults [3,570 African Americans and 1,621 Caribbean Blacks] who participated in the National Survey of American Life, 2001 2003. Five lifetime psychiatric disorders [i.e., major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse disorder, and drug abuse] were considered as the independent variables. Lifetime serious suicidal ideation was considered as the dependent variable. Logistic regressions were used to determine if ethnicity modifies the effects of each psychiatric disorder on serious suicide ideation. Ethnicity was conceptualized as the possible moderator and socio demographics [i.e., age, gender, education level, employment, marital status and country region] were control variables. Among African Americans, major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse disorder were associated with higher odds of suicidal thoughts. Among Caribbean Blacks, major depressive disorder and drug abuse disorder were associated with higher odds of suicidal thoughts. In the pooled sample, there was a significant interaction between ethnicity and anxiety disorder and a marginally significant interaction between ethnicity and drug abuse. Based on our study, suicidality due to psychiatric disorders among Black adults in the United States may depend on ethnicity. General anxiety disorder seems to be a more important risk factor for suicidal ideation among African Americans while drug abuse may contribute more to the risk of suicidal thoughts among Caribbean Blacks.

Migración y estrés postraumático: el caso de los mexicanos y centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos / Migration and post-traumatic stress disorders: the case of Mexicans and Centro-Americans in the United States

El proceso de inmigración a nivel internacional ha sido asociado con altos grados de problemas psicológicos. Recientemente inclusive se ha determinado la existencia de síntomas de estrés pos-traumático (PTSD) entre los refugiados del sudeste de Asia. El presente estudio examinó primero el impacto de la inmigración en los niveles de depresión, ansiedad y estrés generalizado en una muestra de sujetos de Centroamérica y México. El segundo objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la existencia de sintómas específicos de PTSD y su relación con las razones que los individuos tuvieron para migrar a los Estados Unidos. Se encontró que, comparados con los sujetos nacidos en Estados Unidos, los inmigrantes presentaban niveles altos de estrés generalizado; asimismo, las razones que éstos dieron de su inmigración estuvieron relacionadas con el diagnóstico del PTSD, El 52% de los centroamericanos refugiados de guerra llenaba el criterio del DSM-III para ser diagnosticados con PTSD. Los resultados se presentan y discuten con el objetivo de sensibilizar a los profesionales de la salud mental sobre la secuela de síntomas psicológicos relacionados con el proceso de inmigración forzada