TY - JOUR
T1 - Race-based biases in psychological distress and treatment judgments
AU - Kunstman, Jonathan W.
AU - Ogungbadero, Tade
AU - Deska, Jason C.
AU - Bernstein, Michael J.
AU - Smith, April R.
AU - Hugenberg, Kurt
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2023 Kunstman et al.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Racism creates and sustains mental health disparities between Black and White Americans and the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing harassment directed at Black Americans has exacerbated these inequities. Yet, as the mental health needs of Black Americans rise, there is reason to believe the public paradoxically believes that psychopathology hurts Black individuals less than White individuals and these biased distress judgments affect beliefs about treatment needs. Four studies (two pre-registered) with participants from the American public and the field of mental health support this hypothesis. When presented with identical mental illnesses (e.g., depression, anxiety, schizophrenia), both laypeople and clinicians believed that psychopathology would be less distressing to Black relative to White individuals. These distress biases mediate downstream treatment judgments. Across numerous contexts, racially-biased judgments of psychological distress may negatively affect mental healthcare and social support for Black Americans.
AB - Racism creates and sustains mental health disparities between Black and White Americans and the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing harassment directed at Black Americans has exacerbated these inequities. Yet, as the mental health needs of Black Americans rise, there is reason to believe the public paradoxically believes that psychopathology hurts Black individuals less than White individuals and these biased distress judgments affect beliefs about treatment needs. Four studies (two pre-registered) with participants from the American public and the field of mental health support this hypothesis. When presented with identical mental illnesses (e.g., depression, anxiety, schizophrenia), both laypeople and clinicians believed that psychopathology would be less distressing to Black relative to White individuals. These distress biases mediate downstream treatment judgments. Across numerous contexts, racially-biased judgments of psychological distress may negatively affect mental healthcare and social support for Black Americans.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0293078
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0293078
M3 - Article
C2 - 37856467
AN - SCOPUS:85174678293
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 10 October
M1 - e0293078
ER -