Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Post-traumatic Stress and Trauma-Related Subjective Distress: Comparisons Among Hispanics, African-Americans, and Whites with Severe Mental Illness

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Community Mental Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis with a sample of community mental health clients (N = 132) that Hispanic clients would report significantly greater post-traumatic stress symptoms than African-American or white clients when controlling for gender, psychiatric symptoms of SMI, and subjective distress from six of the most commonly reported trauma in the SMI literature. Results supported our main hypothesis: being self-identified as Hispanic was significantly associated with greater post-traumatic stress symptoms. Subjective distress from having been sexually abused along with being “Hispanic” were the only two significant variables left in the equation. Limitations of this study include its modest sample size.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcántara, C., Casement, M. D., & Lewis-Fernández, R. (2013). Conditional risk for PTSD among Latinos: A systematic review of racial/ethnic differences and sociocultural explanations. Clinical Psychology Review, 33, 107–119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baynes, D., Mulholland, C., Cooper, S. J., Montgomery, R. C., MacFlynn, G., Lynch, G., Kelly, C., & King, D. J. (2000). Depressive symptoms in stable chronic schizophrenia: Prevalence and relationship to psychopathology and treatment. Schizophrenia Research, 45, 47–56. doi:10.1016/S0920-9964(99)00205-4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N., Kessler, R. C., Chilcoat, H. D., Schultz, L. R., Davis, G. C., & reski, P. (1998). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in the community: The 1996 Detroit area survey of trauma. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 626–632.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisen, S. V., Normand, S., Belanger, A., Spiro, A., & Esch, D. (2004). The revised behavior and symptom identification scale (BASIS-R): Reliability and validity. Medical Care, 42, 1230–1241. doi:10.1097/00005650-200412000-00010.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Riggs, D. S., Dancu, C. V., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1993). Reliability and validity of a brief instrument for assessing post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6, 459–473. doi:10.1002/jts.2490060405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grubaugh, A. L., Zinzow, H. M., Paul, L., Egede, L. E., & Freuh, B. C. (2011). Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder in adults with severe mental illness: A critical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 883–899. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.003.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M., & Nelson, C. B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the national comorbidity survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048–1060.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Fernandez, R., Gorritz, M., Raggio, G. A., Pelaez, C., Chen, H., & Guarnaccia, P. J. (2010). Association of trauma-related disorders and dissociation with four idioms of distress among Latino psychiatric outpatients. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 34, 219–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, W., Yanos, P., Silverstein, S. M., Mueser, K. T., Rosenberg, S. D., Gottlieb, J. D., & Giacobbe, G. (2013). Public mental health clients with severe mental illness and probable posttraumtic stress disorder: trauma exposure and correlates of symptoms severity. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, 266–273.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, G.N., Schell, T.L., & Miles, J.N.V. and The Rand Corporation (2009). Ethnic differences in posttraumatic distress: Hispanics’ symptoms differ in kind and degree. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 1169–1178.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mueser, K. T., Goodman, L. A., Trumbetta, S. L., Rosenberg, S. D., Osher, F. C., Vidaver, R., & Foy, D. W. (1998). Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in severe mental illness. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 493–499. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.66.3.493.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mueser, K. T., Salyers, M. P., Rosenberg, S. D., Goodman, L. A., Essock, S. M., & Osher, F. C. and The 5 Site Health and Risk Study Research Committee (2004). Interpersonal trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in patients with severe mental illness: Demographic, clinical, and health correlates. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 30, 45–57.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, T., Shen, C., & Sherrer, M. (2013). Trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms in people with severe mental illness: Examining alternate measures of trauma. Psychological Trauma 5, 529–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, T., Shen, C., & Sherrer, M. (2015). Lifetime abuse and self-harm in people with severe mental illness: A structural equation model. Psychological Trauma, 7, 348–355.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, T., Shen, C., & Sherrer, M. V. (2012). Validation of a brief PTSD scale for clients with severe mental illnesses. Research on Social Work Practice, 22, 420–427. doi:10.1177/1049731511434832.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, T., & Sherrer, M. V. (2011). Subjective distress associated with sudden loss in clients with severe mental illness. Community Mental Health Journal, 47, 646–653. doi:10.1007/s10597-011-9382-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, T., Sherrer, M. V., & Shen, C. (2006). Subjective distress from stressful events and high-risk behaviors as predictors of PTSD symptoms severity in clients with severe mental illness. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 375–386. doi:10.1002/jts.20131.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pole, N., Gone, J.P., & Kulkarni, M. (2008) Posttraumatic stress disorder among ethnoracial minorities in the United States. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 15, 35–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, A. L., Gilman, S. E., Breslau, J., Breslau, N., & Koenen, K. C. (2011). Race/ethnic differences in exposure to traumatic events, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatment-seeking for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States. Psychological Medicine, 41, 71–83.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yip, K. (2004). The importance of subjective psychotic experiences: Implications on the psychiatric rehabilitation of people with schizophrenia. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 28, 48–54. doi:10.2975/28.2004.48.54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas O’Hare.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

O’Hare, T., Shen, C. & Sherrer, M.V. Post-traumatic Stress and Trauma-Related Subjective Distress: Comparisons Among Hispanics, African-Americans, and Whites with Severe Mental Illness. Community Ment Health J 53, 778–781 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0097-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0097-8

Keywords

Navigation