ABSTRACT
One reason that race has been associated with mental disorder is that many racial minority people are found in the lower class, and class position is a much stronger predictor of mental disorder than is race. When variables indicative of social class are applied to the analysis of the mental health of a representative sample of the population, the statistical significance of race as a leading predictor of mental disorder often disappears or is severely reduced. Support for the argument that social class is more significant than race in predicting mental disorder is found in carefully designed studies of true prevalence dealing directly with this issue (Kessler et al. 1994, 2005).
