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 African American women living in rural areas were at lower risk of
depression and other mood disorders, compared to African-American
women in urban areas, researchers report. Non-Hispanic white women
were at an increased risk for the same mental health problems when
they lived in the country, compared to white women in cities.
“I actually thought we might see higher rates of depression among
women of both races,” said Addie Weaver at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor, the study's lead author.
Economic and other hardships are sometimes amplified for people
living in rural communities, Weaver said. However, the mental health
of people living in rural areas is understudied in general, she told
Reuters Health. There’s even less data for certain groups of people.
“It was a concern of mine that we know so little about African
Americans living in rural areas and people living in rural areas in
general,” she said. The new research, published online April 8 in
JAMA Psychiatry, is intended to help guide future research, she
added.
The researchers used survey data collected between 2001 and 2003
from about 1,800 women in the southern U.S., about 81% of whom were
African American.
They found that non-Hispanic white women were about twice as likely
to ever have had depression or mood disorder, compared to African
American women. White women were also more likely to have had
depression within the past year.
About 4% of African American women in rural areas reported a
lifetime history of depression, compared to about 14% of those in
cities. Rural African American women were also less likely to have
had mood disorder than their urban counterparts.
By contrast, about 10% of rural non-Hispanic white women had been
depressed in the last year, compared to about 4% of those in urban
areas. And non-Hispanic white women in rural areas were more likely
to have had mood disorder compared to urban non-Hispanic white
women.
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“What was particularly interesting to us is that rural residence
seems to emerge as a protective factor for rural African American
women,” Weaver said.
She cautioned that more research is needed, and that the data is
only from women living in the U.S. South, so the results may be less
applicable to women living elsewhere.
Culture could be one reason why rural living is tied to less
depression and mood disorder among African American women, Weaver
said.
She said African American women may benefit from greater family and
religious support, compared to non-Hispanic white women.
“Of course there is a need of further research exploring this,”
Weaver said. “We’re just speculating on some ideas at this point.”
Until more research is done, Weaver said doctors should know that
where a person lives may influence their health, including their
mental health.
“It’s important for clinicians to pay more attention to the rural
context,” she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Dp8wxf
JAMA Psychiatry 2015.
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