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. 2023 Sep 29:4:100030.
doi: 10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100030. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Providers' perspectives on the impact of culture in the recognition and diagnosis of anxiety

Darius B Dawson  1   2   3 , Christie G-J Tsao  1 , Patricia Chen  1   2   3 , Traber D Giardina  1   3 , Terri L Fletcher  1   2   4
Affiliations

Providers' perspectives on the impact of culture in the recognition and diagnosis of anxiety

Darius B Dawson et al. J Mood Anxiety Disord. .

Abstract

Objectives: We examined providers' perspectives about how culture affects diagnosing and recognizing anxiety.

Methods: We interviewed providers about diagnosing anxiety ("How do you think culture impacts expression and diagnosis of anxiety?") and used inductive analysis, with open coding, to allow themes to emerge organically.

Results: We identified three themes: (1) Impartiality toward Culture: downplaying culture in recognizing or diagnosing anxiety and not acknowledging necessary cultural diagnostic considerations; (2) Acknowledgment of Cultural Impact: detailed variations across different cultural communities in how patients present with and describe anxiety, with differing levels of stigma associated with expressing and treating anxiety; (3) Culturally Integrated Practice: implement culturally informed diagnosis and treatment, with training and self-directed processing on culture and bias.

Conclusions: While most providers acknowledge that culture impacts accurate diagnosis of anxiety, they vary in how they integrate cultural information. It is important to deliver culturally informed care.

Keywords: Anxiety; Culture; Diagnosis; Qualitative; Veterans.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Darius B. Dawson reports a relationship with Anxiety and Depression Association of America that includes: travel reimbursement.

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