Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in African American Children and Adolescents: Risks, Resiliency, and Barriers to Treatment.

This article reviews risk factors, protective factors, and barriers to treatment in African American children and adolescents with OCD. This review conceptualizes cultural differences in symptomology, low income, reduced access to care, racism, and mental health stigma, as risk factors. Also discussed are the roles of family factors in the development and maintenance of the disorder, including family accommodations, conflictual family communication, and parenting styles. Potential protective factors are also examined, including a positive ethnic identity, social support, present-centered time orientation, and religious communities. Implications of findings are discussed. There is an urgent need for research to understand the needs of African American children and adolescents with OCD. (PsycINFO Database Record PMID: 27243576 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research