Personal characteristics can influence one’s degree of risk for developing PTSD. How such personal characteristics may effect the development of PTSD would be influenced by other personal characteristics as well as differences in the trauma experience itself.

What is the evidence for ethnicity and risk for PTSD?

Moderate to high quality evidence found a small association between increased risk of PTSD following childbirth in White vs. other participants.

Moderate to low quality evidence found a small association between increased PTSD symptoms following Hurricane Katrina and increased minority ethnicity.

Moderate quality evidence found the rate of PTSD was higher in Black samples than in White samples (49% vs. 29%) after road traffic accidents.

Moderate to high quality evidence found a small association between increased PTSD symptoms following any trauma in children and adolescents and increased Black or minority ethnicity.

Moderate to high quality evidence found no association between ethnicity and PTSD symptoms in professionals indirectly exposed to trauma through their therapeutic work with trauma victims.

August 2021

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Some ethnic groups may show greater or less risk for bipolar disorder than others. Incidence refers to how many new cases there are per population in a specified time period, while prevalence refers to how many existing cases there are at a particular point in time. Differences in the incidence and prevalence across various ethnic groups can provide clues to possible causes of bipolar disorder.

What is the evidence for ethnicity and risk for bipolar disorder?

Moderate quality evidence finds a medium-sized increased risk of affective psychosis (including bipolar disorder) in Black African and Black Caribbean ethnic groups living in England. There were also small increases in South Asian and other White groups (Irish, Eastern European).

Moderate to low quality evidence finds a small increased risk of bipolar disorder in people living in the US who have a Caucasian mother, with no association with having an African American mother or a mother from another ethnic background.

October 2021

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Some ethnic groups may show more or less risk for schizophrenia than other ethnic groups. Incidence refers to how many new cases there are per population in a specified time period, while prevalence refers to how many existing cases there are at a particular point in time. Differences in the incidence and prevalence across various ethnic groups can provide clues to possible causes of schizophrenia.

What is the evidence for ethnicity as a risk factor for schizophrenia?

Moderate to high quality evidence suggests the incidence of any psychotic disorder is greater in ethnic minority groups living in the UK or the Netherlands than in the majority population in those areas. The incidence of psychotic disorders in ethnic minority groups is highest in areas with low own-group ethnic density than in areas with high own-group ethnic density. There was also a small increase in the prevalence and incidence of subclinical psychotic symptoms in people from ethnic minority groups. Small effects showed increased rates of psychotic symptoms and experiences in people with high perceived ethnic discrimination.

For schizophrenia in particular, there is a large increased risk in black Caribbean and black African migrants living in the UK, and also in their descendants and a medium-sized increased risk for Asian migrants compared to the white British population. In the USA, moderate quality evidence found a medium-sized increased risk of schizophrenia in Black people compared to White people. This effect was largest in studies with more males, more White participants, more young participants, in studies conducted in hospital and military settings, and in studies conducted in the Midwest, Southeast or national/multistate USA settings.

April 2022

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Incidence refers to how many new cases of schizophrenia there are per population in a specified time period. It is different from prevalence, which refers to how many existing cases there are at a particular point in time, or over a lifetime. Incidence is usually reported as the number of new cases per 100,000 people per year, but this can vary. Differences in the incidence of a disorder can provide clues to its possible causes. For example, a population register with information gained from consensus data helps to identify all adults in a defined area who were born within a certain time period (a cohort). Cross linking this information with a mental health register for the cohort can be used to identify people who received treatment for schizophrenia over particular times. This information provides the incidence of schizophrenia for various age groups within that cohort.

What is the evidence for variation in incidence according to ethnicity?

Moderate to high quality evidence suggests the incidence of psychotic disorders in ethnic minority groups in the UK and the Netherlands is higher than in the majority population in those areas (large effect). This effect is largest in areas with low ethnic density compared to areas with high ethnic density.

April 2022

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Cultural differences may influence the course and outcome of illness for people with schizophrenia. These may be the result of differences in understanding of mental illness, and different attitudes and treatment approaches towards these disorders. Some cultures may provide more accessible pathways to care than others, including ready access to treatment and family and social support that can assist the individual to better deal with symptoms and any associated distress. Negative cultural attitudes towards mental illness may exacerbate stigma and social isolation, and some cultures may focus more on “abnormal” behaviour than other cultures, potentially perpetuating it.

What is the evidence for cultural differences?

Overall, moderate quality evidence suggests rates of mortality, remission, relapse, social disability, marital status, and employment vary across studies conducted in different countries, both in the developing and the developed world.

There was a small increased risk of compulsory psychiatric admissions in migrant groups compared to native populations. Compared to white ethnic groups, there was a small increased risk of compulsory psychiatric admissions in Black Caribbean, Black African, South Asian, East Asian, and other minority groups. Black people in the UK were less likely to be hospitalised on first presentation to services, or to be referred to specialist services, but were more likely to have had involvement with the police during admission to hospital. The most common explanations for these findings include having psychotic symptoms, perceived risk of violence, police contact, absence of or mistrust of general practitioners, and ethnic disadvantages.

Moderate to low quality evidence indicates there may be fewer compulsory admissions for Asians in Canada with first-episode psychosis than for Whites, Blacks, or those of other ethnic backgrounds.

August 2020

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