AUTHOR=Valdez Luis Arturo, Langellier Brent A. TITLE=Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Mental Health in Arizona JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=3 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2015.00170 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2015.00170 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=BackgroundMental health issues are a rapidly increasing problem in the US. Little is known about mental health and healthcare among Arizona’s Hispanic population.MethodsWe assess differences in mental health service need, mental health diagnoses, and illicit drug use among 7,578 White and Hispanic participants in the 2010 Arizona Health Survey.ResultsPrevalence of mild, moderate, or severe psychological distress was negatively associated with SES among both Whites and Hispanics. Overall, Hispanics were less likely than Whites to have been diagnosed with a mental health condition; however, diagnosis rates were negatively associated with SES among both populations. Hispanics had considerably lower levels of lifetime illicit drug use than their White counterparts. Illicit drug use increased with SES among Hispanics but decreased with SES among Whites. After adjustment for relevant socio-demographic characteristics, multivariable linear regression suggested that Hispanics have significantly lower Kessler scores than Whites. These differences were largely explained by lower Kessler scores among non-English proficient Hispanics relative to English-speaking populations. Moreover, logistic regression suggests that Hispanics, the foreign born, and the non-English language proficient have lower odds of lifetime illicit drug use than Whites, the US born, and the English-language proficient, respectively.ConclusionThe unique social and political context in Arizona may have important but understudied effects on the physical and mental health of Hispanics. Our findings suggest mental health disparities between Arizona Whites and Hispanics, which should be addressed via culturally- and linguistically tailored mental health care. More observational and intervention research is necessary to better understand the relationship between race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, healthcare, and mental health in Arizona.