The Effect of Employment, Education Level, and English Proficiency on the Association Between Race/Ethnicity and Major Depression Among U.S. Adults Aged 18 - 49 Years: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2021 NSDUH

This study hypothesized that employment, education, and English proficiency serve as protective factors against depression, and the risk of depression for Asian Americans would be similar to that of White Americans after controlling for those potential mediators. The sample population included non-Hispanic Asians and non-Hispanic whites aged 18-49 years in the United States (N = 23,426). Using the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the association between race/ethnicity and major depressive episode (MDE) was assessed. The results revealed that adjusting for each covariate increased the risk of Asians having MDE. However, the increase was not statistically significant which indicates that these covariates cannot explain the distinct lower prevalence of depression among Asians in the U.S. Other factors such as the influence of cultural differences should be considered in future researches.