The objective of this project is to investigate the patterns co-occurrence of psychiatric disorders in 2 American Indian populations and understand how this bears on cultural validity.
Progress in psychiatric epidemiology has been dramatic. The focus on observable and experienced symptoms in the DSM definitions of mental disorder led to the development of reliable measures for use in population-based surveys. The substantial levels of comorbidity found in such efforts have forced thoughtful reconsideration of this concept. The probable role of sociocultural factors in understanding such comorbidity, however, has remained unexplored, despite evidence of the importance of the sociocultural construction of mental illness in general.
Involvement in this project would involve the statistical analysis of survey data — both from interviewer-administered protocols of over 3,000 American Indians between the ages of 15 and 54 and re-interviews of 335 participants by clinicians using a semi-structured interview. The most common diagnoses were Major Depressive Episode (MDE), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Alcohol Abuse and Dependence (AAD). Rates of MDE in these samples were much lower than we anticipated; however MDE was diagnosed more often in the clinical reappraisal, as was AAD. We will work to understand how methodological and sociocultural factors inform our understandings of diagnostic processes.
Preceptor Information |
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| Name: | Jan Beals |
| Department: | Psychiatry |
| Location: | Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building, Room 333 |
| Anschutz Campus | |
| Contact: | 303-724-1453 |
| jan.beals@uchsc.edu | |
| Faculty/Lab Website: | www.uchsc.edu/ai |
Position Information |
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| Openings: | 1 |
| Funding: | No |