Mental Health Grants

Title: Delineating Sources of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Differences in the Diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (K01MD020122) PI : Kinney, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), the most prevalent anxiety disorder in primary care, is often misdiagnosed, particularly in individuals from marginalized sociodemographic groups. The proposed study leverages large-scale, epidemiologic and electronic health record datasets to evaluate two potential contributors to GAD diagnostic disparities: 1) psychometric bias, or indications that GAD’s diagnostic criteria fail to capture the same construct across sociodemographic groups or over time, and 2) disparities in patient-centered care, which is characterized by collaborative decision-making and respecting patients’ values, culture, and context. Findings from the proposed study will inform efforts to achieve equitable GAD diagnostic practices and treatment access by illuminating how minoritized groups experience GAD and how it can be accurately diagnosed.