Race/Ethnicity and Treatment for Substance Use and Depression

The need for substance abuse and mental health treatment varies by race/ethnicity. A recent report from SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health focuses on the need for and receipt of treatment for a substance use problem and major depressive episode (MDE) among adults age 18 or older by race/ethnicity.

Treatment for Substance Use and Depression among Adults, by Race/Ethnicity reports the following major findings:

• Combined 2004 to 2007 data indicate that 9.7 percent of adults age 18 or older needed treatment for a substance use problem in the past year, and 10.5 percent of those needing substance use treatment received it in the past year in a specialty facility.
• Approximately 1 in 12 adults (7.5 percent) had an MDE in the past year, and 66.1 percent of them received treatment for depression in the past year.
• Among those in need of substance use treatment, blacks had higher rates of receipt of treatment in a specialty facility than persons of two or more races, Hispanics, whites, and Asians (17.8 versus 11.9, 11.3, 9.2, and 5.5 percent, respectively).
• Among adults with past-year MDE, whites were more likely to have received treatment than blacks, Hispanics, and Asians (69.6 versus 57.4, 53.4, and 48.0 percent, respectively). People of two or more races were more likely to have received treatment than Hispanics and Asians (65.2 versus 53.4 and 48.0 percent, respectively).

Need for Treatment for a Substance Use Problem in the Past Year among Adults, by Race/Ethnicity: 2004 to 2007

Substance Use Treatment Need

American Indian or Alaska Native adults had the highest rate of substance use treatment need (19.4 percent), followed by people of two or more races (12.4 percent), Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders (12.0 percent), Hispanics (10.1 percent), blacks (10.0 percent), whites (9.7 percent), and Asians (5.0 percent).

Depression

People of two or more races had the highest rate of MDE (13.3 percent), followed by Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders (11.6 percent), American Indians or Alaska Natives (9.7 percent), whites (8.0 percent), blacks (6.5 percent), Hispanics (6.3 percent), and Asians (3.6 percent).

For more information, download Treatment for Substance Use and Depression among Adults, by Race/Ethnicity.