A New Perspective on the Relationships Among Race, Social Class, and Psychological Distress

Kessler, Ronald C.; Neighbors, Harold W.

doi:10.2307/2136310

Cited by 458 publications

(271 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…For years it was thought that the level of distress was the same for blacks and whites, once socioeconomic differences were taken into account (Warheit et al, 1975). Recently, however, it has been shown that the prevalence of distress among low-income blacks is distinctly different from the prevalence among low-income whites; but among the upper classes, blacks and whites display essentially similar rates of psychological distress (Kessler & Neighbors, 1986). It is possible that empirical research would reveal similar patterns in the diagnostic area.…”

Section: A Fundamental Contradictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of racial factors on psychiatric diagnosis: A review and suggestions for research

Neighbors

Jackson

Campbell

et al. 1989

Community Ment Health J

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ABSTRACT:Research on race and diagnosis initially focused on black-white differences in depression and schizophrenia. Statistics showing a higher treated prevalence of schizophrenia and a lower prevalence of depression for blacks seemed to support the claim that blacks did not suffer from depression. Others argued, however, that clinicians were misdiagnosing depression in blacks. This article reviews empirical studies of racial differences in individual symptoms and summarizes the evidence on misdiagnosis. It argues that more attention must be paid to resolving two contradictory assumptions made by researchers working in the area of race and diagnostic inference: (1) blacks and whites exhibit symptomatology similarly but diagnosticians mistakenly assume that they are different; (2) blacks and whites display psychopathology" in different ways but diagnosticians are unaware of or insensitive to such cultural differences. The article concludes with suggested research directions and a discussion of critical research issues.

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Section: A Fundamental Contradictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of racial factors on psychiatric diagnosis: A review and suggestions for research

Neighbors

Jackson

Campbell

et al. 1989

Community Ment Health J

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208

100

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“…The need for an examination of the relative importance of psychosocial factors in employment is of increasing significance. This is particularly true as more is understood about the negative effects of job problems-stress or worker productivity, efficiency, and absenteeism as well as the costs in related physical and psychological disabilities (Kessler, 1979;Kessler & Cleary, 1980;Kessler & Neighbors, 1986;Mays, 1995;Thoits, 1983;Ulbrich et al, 1989).In the present study we examined the relationships of sociodemographics and perceived race-based discrimination variables to employment status and job problems-stress within a national probability sample of Black women. Analyses were conducted to explore the contribution of social psychological components of perceived race-based discrimination independently and in combination with sociodemographic characteristics to the variation in employment status and presence of job problems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Perceived race-based discrimination, employment status, and job stress in a national sample of Black women: Implications for health outcomes.

Mays¹,

Coleman²,

Jackson³

1996

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

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Previous research has not systematically examined the relationship of perceived race-based discriminations to labor force participation or job related stresses-problems experienced by Black women. The present study investigated the relative contributions of perceived race-based discriminations and sociodemographic characteristics to employment status and job stress in a national probability sample (the National Survey of Black Americans; J. S. Jackson, 1991) of Black women in the United States. Logit and polychotomous logistic regression analyses revealed that Black women's current employment status was best explained by sociodemographic measures. In contrast, the combination of perceived discrimination and sociodemographics differentially affects patterns of employment status and perceived job stress in the work environment of Black women. Implications of these findings for the health of African American women are discussed.As greater numbers of women maintain steady employment and move into nontraditional occupations, more attention is being paid to social and psychological effects resulting from their participation in the labor force. The impact of work on marriage, family, mental health status, life satisfaction, and, in particular, job-related stress has been an important area of study (Crohan, Antonnucci, Adelmann, & Coleman, 1989). Historically, Black 1 women have constituted a proportionally large share of the labor force (Evans & Herr, 1991;Malveaux & Wallace, 1987). Much of the research on working Black women, however, has concerned itself with objective labor market indices (e.g., rates of participation, occupation, and salary equity). Little research has examined the psychosocial aspects of perceptions of gender and race discrimination in the labor market experiences of Black women, particularly as they affect entry into the labor force, participation rates (employment status), and job stress in the work environment as a function of perceptions of racial-ethnic discrimination.Studies examining work and the quality of life consistently document the negative impact of work-related discrimination on women and ethnic group members (Ulbrich, Warheit, & Copyright 1996 by the Educational Publishing Foundation Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Vickie M. Mays, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to mays@psych.sscnet.ucla.edu. 1 The terms African American and Black are used interchangeably throughout this article to refer to Americans who share a common ancestral descent from people historically indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Occup Health Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 June 13.Published in final edited form as:J Occup Health Psychol. 1996 July ; 1(3): 319-329. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript Zimmerman, 1989). Disparities between the occupational ...

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“…Much of the research on race and ethnic differences in psychological distress and disorder has attempted to determine whether any elevations in disorder among minorities remain once indicators of socioeconomic status are controlled. This early view of the race-class nexus was dramatically altered by the research of Kessler and Neighbors (1986), which showed that controlling for measures of social class does not "explain way" race effects. The acceleration of research and theory on the dynamics linking race and socioeconomic adversity has transformed sociologically informed research on race and mental health.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Race and Ethnic Differences in Depressed Mood Following the Transition from High School

Gore

Aseltine²

2003

Journal of Health and Social Behavior

166

108

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A New Perspective on the Relationships Among Race, Social Class, and Psychological Distress

Cited by 458 publications

References 29 publications

The influence of racial factors on psychiatric diagnosis: A review and suggestions for research

The influence of racial factors on psychiatric diagnosis: A review and suggestions for research

Perceived race-based discrimination, employment status, and job stress in a national sample of Black women: Implications for health outcomes.

Race and Ethnic Differences in Depressed Mood Following the Transition from High School

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