Police Discrimination Is Associated with Major Depressive Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Black Americans

Background/Purpose:

 In a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, 70% of Blacks felt that they were treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police. The recent deaths of Michael Brown (Ferguson, MO), Eric Garner (New York, NY), and Walter Scott (North Charleston, SC) resulting from police abuse seem to corroborate the aforementioned statistic, drawing public attention (read: ire) to the systematic racism that continues to degrade the health and wellbeing of Black Americans. The effects of police abuse on the mind are not well known, but likely impart profound injury through stress. In this paper, we examine whether and to what extent experiencing police discrimination within a lifetime is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods:

Sample

This paper analyzed data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), a national household probability sample of 5191 Black Americans (3570 African Americans and 1621 Caribbean Black Americans) that was conducted between the years 2001 and 2003.

Measures

Psychiatric Disorders: Respondents were assessed for 12-month DSM-IV Axis I disorders using the WHO-CIDI, a popular and reliable structured interview for psychiatric assessment. Diagnoses of interest included: (1) MDD, (2) Anxiety Disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia with and without panic disorder, panic disorder, or social phobia), and (3) PTSD.

Police Discrimination: Police discrimination was measured using a dichotomous (Yes/No) item: Have you ever been unfairly stopped, searched, questioned, physically threatened or abused by the police?

Covariates: Demographic covariates included ethnicity, age, sex, education, and poverty-to-income ratio, all of which were self-reported by participants.

Results:

Black Americans who reported police discrimination were 95% more likely to report MDD, and more than twice as likely to report PTSD, when compared with those who did not report police discrimination, adjusting for demographics and socioeconomic status. Police discrimination did not increase risk for anxiety disorders.

Conclusions and Implications:

In keeping with social stress models, police discrimination increased risk for MDD and PTSD.  While the reason why police discrimination did not increase risk for anxiety disorders is unclear, we discuss how sociocultural expressions and interpretations of illness can sometimes mask the occurrence of disorders. Our findings can inform prevention and intervention efforts, suggesting the need to disseminate mental health screenings for MDD and PTSD among young black men who are frequently the target of police discrimination. Our findings also suggest the need to adapt trauma-related treatments to address experiences of racism, and the need to develop neighborhood support systems that promote racial/ethnic solidarity against injustice. Our findings promote more trainings for police officers in order to raise awareness of how their actions can harm citizens, and how they can perform their duties while (to the best of their abilities) inflicting the least amount of psychological damage as possible.