Race, socioeconomic status, and psychiatric impairment: A research note

The relationship between race and psychiatric impairment was examined with regard to three measures of psychiatric status. Data on the Health Opinion Survey, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, and the General Well-Being Schedule collected on a rural Tennessee sample (n = 713) indicated a significant zero-order relationship between race and impairment only for the depression index. No race differences were obtained when controls for SES-related variables were instituted. The data support the recent suggestion that higher levels of impairment among blacks may be an artifact of social class standing.