Are There Regional Differences in Mental Health among Black Americans? An Exploration of Explanatory Mechanisms

Lacee A Satcher; Christy L Erving; Richard N Pitt

doi:10.1007/s40615-024-01969-3

Are There Regional Differences in Mental Health among Black Americans? An Exploration of Explanatory Mechanisms

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Mar 11. doi: 10.1007/s40615-024-01969-3. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lacee A Satcher¹, Christy L Erving², Richard N Pitt³

Affiliations

¹ Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, McGuinn Hall 420, 02467, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA. lacee.satcher@bc.edu.
² University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
³ University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.

PMID: 38468118
DOI: 10.1007/s40615-024-01969-3

Abstract

Using data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) (2001-2003), we examine regional differences in past-year anxiety disorder and past-year major depressive episodes among a geographically diverse sample of Black Americans (N = 3,672). We find that Black Americans residing in the South experience a mental health advantage over Black Americans living in other parts of the country, experiencing lower rates of both anxiety disorder and past-year major depression. We also examine the extent to which stress exposure, religious involvement, and neighborhood contexts help explain any regional differences. We find that stress exposure helps to explain much of the differences observed across regions, while religious involvement and neighborhood contexts help explain observed regional differences to a lesser extent. These findings highlight the importance of considering regional contexts in understanding intra-racial differences in mental health.

Keywords: Black Americans; Mental health; Race/ethnicity; Regional differences; Religion; Stress exposure.