Abstract
Depression in the United States (US) is increasing across all races and ethnicities and is attributed to multiple social determinants of health (SDOH). For members of historically marginalized races and ethnicities, depression is often underreported and undertreated, and can present as more severe. Limited research explores multiple SDOH and depression among African American adults in the US. Guided by Healthy People (HP) 2030, and using cross-disciplinary mental health terminology, we conducted a comprehensive search to capture studies specific to African American adults in the US published after 2016. We applied known scoping review methodology and followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. From 12,315 initial results, 60 studies were included in our final sample. Most studies explored the HP 2030 Social and Community Context domain, with a heavy focus on discrimination and social support; no studies examined Health Care Access and Quality. Researchers typically utilized cross-sectional, secondary datasets; no qualitative studies were included. We recommend research that comprehensively examines mental health risk and protective factors over the life course within, not just between, populations to inform tailored health promotion and public policy interventions for improving SDOH and reducing racial and ethnic health disparities.
Highlights
Following the methodological framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley [21], and expanded upon by Levac et al [22], we sought to explore the field of study on the social determinants of mental health specific to the adult African American population in the United States
Guided by the research question, “What social determinants of health are researchers studying in relationship to mental health outcomes among African American adults?”, we developed a search strategy to gather a wide selection of peer-reviewed literature examining our key concepts, inclusive of a variety of study types and disciplines, to assess the volume and scope of this literature
Of the 60 studies included in this review, 30% employed samples drawn from urban areas, such as large metropolitan centers like Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago
Summary
Depression, the common reference for a group of depressive disorders [1], is one of the leading global causes of disability [2]. Depression is a major risk factor for suicide [1,3] and poses a serious individual health burden with ripple effects into the community. The prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation among adults in the United States (US) has been steadily increasing [4]. While depression prevalence rates appear relatively similar across races and ethnicities, research suggests greater persistence of mental illness and reduced treatment usage for persons identifying as members of minoritized racial and ethnic groups [5].
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