Effects of cultural themes in psychotic symptoms on the diagnosis of schizophrenia in African Americans

Arthur L. Whaley, Brittany N. Hall

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cultural themes focusing on race-related issues and religiosity were identified via content analysis in the delusions and hallucinations of a sample of 118 African American psychiatric patients. The purpose of the study was to determine whether cultural themes in psychotic symptoms influence the diagnosis from different sources (i.e., chart, SCID, and best estimate) of schizophrenia for Black patients. It was hypothesized that the best estimate diagnoses of cultural experts would diagnose schizophrenia in African Americans more frequently when they exhibit race-related themes in their psychotic symptoms. It was also hypothesized that diagnosis of the paranoid subtype would yield a stronger difference among the sources than the broader category of schizophrenia. The results did not support the hypotheses. Implications for understanding the relationship between culture and psychosis among African Americans are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)457-471
Number of pages15
JournalMental Health, Religion and Culture
Volume12
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2009

Keywords

  • African Americans
  • Content analysis
  • Culture
  • Diagnosis
  • Psychotic symptoms
  • Schizophrenia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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