The relative impact of socioeconomic status and childhood trauma on black-white differences in paranoid personality disorder symptoms

The current study examines mechanisms of racial differences in symptoms of paranoid personality disorder (PPD) in a sample of adults ages 55-64 from the St. Louis, MO area. Socioeconomic status (SES) and childhood trauma were tested as intervening variables in the association between race and PPD symptoms using structural equation modeling. PPD symptoms were modeled as a latent variable composed of items from the PPD scales of the Multi-Source Assessment of Personality Pathology self and informant reports and the Structured Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) Personality. Childhood trauma was measured using the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire, and SES was a composite of parent education, participant education, and annual household income. Blacks exhibited higher levels of PPD symptoms across the 3 personality measures, reported significantly lower SES, and reported greater childhood trauma. The proposed model was a good fit to the data, and the effect of race on PPD symptoms operated mainly through SES. The indirect effect through SES was stronger for males. Findings suggest that racial differences in PPD symptoms are partly explained by problems more commonly experienced by Black individuals.