Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Symptomatology and Mental Health Care Utilization Among WIC Mothers

This 1999 pilot study of 127 ethnically diverse mothers in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program addressed mental health symptomatology using the PrimeMD tool and mental health care utilization. Prevalence of anxiety symptoms differed by presence of support and self-perceived health status. Prevalence of depressive symptoms differed by age. Mental health care utilization differed by ethnicity, age and presence of support. The ethnically diverse sample allowed investigation of the appropriateness of broad ethnic/racial categories. Differences between English and Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans would have been obscured if analyses had been limited to broad ethnic/racial groupings.