Depression in African American and White Women Convicted of a Felony Drug Offense

ABSTRACT

Most women in the criminal justice system are drug-involved, and although African American women are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for drug-related offenses, little is known about their mental health. Depression is of particular concern, as it is highly comorbid with substance abuse and strongly associated with stressful life events, including discrimination. We studied factors associated with depression in 78 community-dwelling African American and White women previously convicted of a felony drug offense. Exposure to trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and alcohol dependency predicted depression in the sample as a whole, but individual predictors varied significantly by race. Notably, social support decreased risk depression for White women, but increased risk for African American women. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• Criminal justice
• African American and White women
• mental health
• co-occurring disorders
• race

Support for this research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.