Assessment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic, and Phobias with African Americans

Abstract

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder with and without agoraphobia (PDA/PDWA), specific phobia, and social phobia are anxiety disorders that are commonly experienced among African Americans. Although burgeoning, the current empirical literature remains relatively sparse as it relates to culturally sensitive assessment of anxiety disorders. In some cases, cross-cultural comparisons denote differences between African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites (e.g., prevalence rates, mean differences on measures of anxiety) although other studies report mixed results. Along these lines, the goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of cultural considerations in the assessment of GAD, PD, and the phobias and summarize extant literature delineating culturally specific findings on “gold standard” assessments of the aforementioned anxiety disorders.