Based on the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), the analysis is the first to consider immigration status in conjunction with psychiatric morbidity in each of four comparison groups: U.S.-born Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants to the United States, U.S.-born non-Hispanic Whites, and non-Hispanic White* immigrants to the United States. Earlier studies compared psychiatric disorder rates among U.S- and foreign-born Mexican Americans to either rates for U.S.-born non-Hispanic Whites or rates for the entire U.S. population, thereby confounding immigration status and ethnicity.
"The remarkable pattern seen in these results defies explanation based on current knowledge," according to George Kunos, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director, Division of Intramural Biological and Clinical Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the NIH institute that conducted the study. "Additional careful research is required to fully understand the influences of individual and environmental factors in the causes of psychiatric disorders."
"As often occurs, our epidemiologists--researchers who study conditions and behaviors across large population groups--pose new and intriguing questions for researchers in other disciplines," he said. "Although it may be some time before scientists fully understand the causes of these disorders, service pro
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Contact: Ann Bradley
abradley@mail.nih.gov
301-443-3860
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
6-Dec-2004