Psychotherapy Associates

To test the hypothesis that white immigrants to a predominantly black country have a different pattern of psychopathology from the native population.

The psychopathology (DSM III-R) of white immigrants to Jamaica seen in the author's private practice between 1979 and 1990 was compared with the psychopathology of a control sample of native Jamaicans matched with the immigrant sample for age, sex, and social class.

There was no statistical difference in the major diagnoses mood disorder (35%), anxiety states (27%), and schizophrenia (20%) between the immigrant and control groups. White immigrants to this black country did not develop schizophrenia at higher rates than the native born. White mentally ill immigrants to Jamaica move into social class positions at a significantly higher level (p < 0.005) than those of their parents with whom they grew up in their home country. This was significantly different (p < 0.005) from their Jamaican controls. Two case studies are presented to illustrate these findings.

The political/economic situation which exists in black postcolonial countries like Jamaica provides a protective social environment for white immigrants, which buffers them from the etiological conditions that engender schizophrenia in immigrants to other countries with predominantly white populations.

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the effect of participation in a cognitively oriented, pretreatment intervention on the control orientation of substance-using behavior of 48 adolescents admitted to drug-free outpatient treatment. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions and to one of two counselors. A comparison of changes in control orientation between groups was made after implementation of the intervention with the treated group and after both groups had participated in six counseling sessions. A 2-way multivariate analysis of covariance showed type of treatment was significant. Follow-up analyses indicated the treated group were significantly more internal than the control group at both posttest occasions. A one-tailed chi-squared test indicated no significant association in substance use for the groups.