Department of Social Work, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue, Washington, DC, NE, 20002, USA.
Community Ment Health J. 2021 Aug;57(6):1164-1174. doi: 10.1007/s10597-020-00747-9. Epub 2020 Nov 10.
Studies of deaf individuals generally indicate higher levels of mental illness and negative mental health outcomes compared to the general population (Anglemyer and Crespi in JAMA 2018: 3285153, 2018; Dammeyer and Chapman in JAMA 52: 807-813, 2017; Fellinger et al. in JAMA 379: 17-23, 2012; Hall et al. in JAMA 52: 761-776, 2017; as reported by Leigh and Pollard (M. Marschark and P. Spencer (eds) Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language and education, Oxford University Press, UK 2003); Landsberger et al. in JAMA 45, 42-51, 2014; Pollard in JAMA 39, 147-160, 1994). The purpose of this study is to understand the demographic variables, psychiatric symptoms, functioning, resilience, and recovery in a sample of 11,703 deaf adults. The de-identified dataset was provided by Beacon Health Options and Maryland Behavioral Health Administration and includes information about deaf adult consumers of public behavioral health services. Findings revealed that compared to hearing consumers in the dataset, deaf consumers were less likely to live in independent housing. They were more likely to live in structured community housing, such as group homes, or be homelessness. They had higher rates of arrests and incarcerations, higher proportion of unemployment, and higher rates of cigarette smoking. Deaf participants had lower rates of substance use. Deaf women in this sample reported significantly more difficulty in managing their psychiatric symptoms than deaf men. Deaf people of color had lower levels of psychiatric dysfunction, lower resilience, and greater recovery compared to white participants, which was inconsistent with other studies of people of color. Younger participants had significantly more difficulty with psychiatric symptoms and functioning than those in the older groups. Those who were 31-55 years old had higher resilience than those who were older than 56 years old. The author offers several recommendations for further research of the mental health of deaf populations, especially round race, age, and gender.
研究表明，与普通人群相比，聋人个体的精神疾病和负面心理健康结果的发生率更高（Anglemyer 和 Crespi 在 2018 年的《美国医学会杂志》上发表的 3285153 号研究；Dammeyer 和 Chapman 在 2017 年的《美国医学会杂志》第 52 卷第 807-813 页发表的研究；Fellinger 等人在 2012 年的《美国医学会杂志》第 379 卷第 17-23 页发表的研究；Hall 等人在 2017 年的《美国医学会杂志》第 52 卷第 761-776 页发表的研究； Leigh 和 Pollard（M. Marschark 和 P. Spencer（eds），《牛津聋人研究、语言与教育手册》，牛津大学出版社，英国，2003 年）报道；Landsberger 等人在 2014 年的《美国医学会杂志》第 45 卷第 42-51 页发表的研究；Pollard 在 1994 年的《美国医学会杂志》第 39 卷第 147-160 页发表的研究）。本研究旨在了解 11703 名聋人成年人样本中的人口统计学变量、精神症状、功能、适应力和康复情况。该无标识符数据集由 Beacon Health Options 和马里兰州行为健康管理局提供，其中包含有关公共行为健康服务聋人消费者的信息。研究结果表明，与数据集内的听力消费者相比，聋人消费者更不可能居住在独立住房中。他们更有可能居住在结构化的社区住房中，如集体住房或无家可归。他们的被捕和监禁率更高，失业率更高，吸烟率也更高。聋人参与者的物质使用率较低。在该样本中，聋人女性报告在管理精神症状方面的困难明显多于聋人男性。与白人参与者相比，有色人种的聋人心理健康障碍程度较低，适应力较低，康复程度较高，这与其他针对有色人种的研究结果不一致。年轻参与者在精神症状和功能方面的困难明显大于年龄较大的组。31-55 岁的参与者比 56 岁以上的参与者具有更高的适应力。作者提出了一些建议，以进一步研究聋人群体的心理健康问题，特别是种族、年龄和性别问题。
