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Urbanicity, race, and psychological distress
Author(s) -
Neff James Alan,
Husaini Baqar A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(198710)15:4<520::aid-jcop2290150410>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - race (biology) , depressive symptoms , residence , rural area , psychological distress , demography , distress , white (mutation) , psychology , depression (economics) , medicine , gerontology , mental health , clinical psychology , anxiety , psychiatry , biochemistry , chemistry , botany , macroeconomics , pathology , sociology , gene , economics , biology
Data from random samples of 645 rural White respondents, 398 rural Black respondents, and 700 urban residents of Nashville, Tennessee (375 White, 326 Black participants), are presented that address urbanicity and race differences in depressive symptoms, psychophysiologic symptoms, and general well‐being. After demographic controls, significant urban‐rural differences were found only on depressive symptoms, with greater distress in rural areas. Black participants had significantly higher depression scores than White respondents, though race differences were reversed on psychophysiologic symptoms and general well‐being. Interaction effects were striking. Urban‐rural differences were specific to Black participants—rural Black residents had higher depressive symptom scores than urban Black residents. These differences were reversed on psychophysiologic symptoms and well‐being. Race differences were specific to the rural sample; rural Black respondents manifested more depressive symptoms than did rural White participants, though rural White residents had more psychophysiologic symptoms and lower well‐being. These findings withstood further controls for migration/length of residence. Implications of these findings for stress models of urbanicity and race differences are considered.