Ethnicity and depression treatment preferences of pregnant women

Abstract

African American, Hispanic, and White women between 12 and 32 weeks gestation were recruited to examine their depression treatment preferences. The 73 women who participated were interviewed after their prenatal visit. Nineteen percent of women had symptoms of moderate or severe depression. Women with moderate or severe symptoms of depression were more likely to believe that antidepressants were an acceptable treatment than those without symptoms or with only minor depression symptoms. There were only small differences among the three ethnic groups for antidepressant use preference but most women found them to be unacceptable. In contrast, approximately half of the White women felt that herbal medicines were acceptable compared with 16 and 22 percent for African Americans and Hispanics, respectively. Only 44 percent of African American women felt that counseling from a mental health professional was an acceptable treatment for depression compared to 68 percent for White and 61 percent for Hispanic women. Similarly, African American women were less likely to believe that waiting and getting over depression symptoms naturally was acceptable compared to Hispanic and White women.