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Mood and Anxiety Disorders Among Rural, Urban, and Metropolitan Residents in the United States

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Abstract

Objective: To estimate the correlates of mood and anxiety disorders among rural, urban and metropolitan residents in the United States. Methods: We analyzed the National Co-morbidity Survey (NCS), which yields the distribution and correlates of psychiatric disorders in a probability sample of U.S. population using DSM-III-R for diagnosis. Logistic regressions of mood and anxiety disorders were stratified by geographical area. Results: We found gender differences in mood disorders among urban (O.R. = 1.8, P < 0.0001) and metropolitan (O.R. = 1.6, P < 0.0001) but not among rural residents. Rural (O.R. = 0.2, P < 0.05) and urban (O.R. = 0.5, P < 0.05) African Americans were less likely to report mood disorders compared to rural and urban Whites. Similarly, we found gender differences in anxiety disorders among urban (O.R. = 2.0, P < 0.0001) and metropolitan (O.R. = 1.7, P < 0.0001), but not among rural residents. Conclusion: Rural men reported more mood and anxiety disorders than urban men, thus erasing expected rural gender differences in these disorders. Rural male mood and anxiety disorders may be a function of diminishing resources (steady, high paying jobs) or increasing financial strain particularly among Whites, who comprise a majority of rural residents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Hygiene and Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Chamberlain C. Diala

  2. Department of Behavior and Community Health and Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland–Baltimore, USA

    Carles Muntaner

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  1. Chamberlain C. Diala
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  2. Carles Muntaner
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Correspondence to Chamberlain C. Diala.

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Diala, C.C., Muntaner, C. Mood and Anxiety Disorders Among Rural, Urban, and Metropolitan Residents in the United States. Community Ment Health J 39, 239–252 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023342307323

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