African-American, Latino citizens at increased risk of mental health issues

http://goo.gl/rnlwfr

The second study, published in the journal Psychological Assessment, further investigated these five factors - developing a new screening tool that could be applied to clinical settings.

This research resulted in the UCLA Life Adversities Screener, or LADS - a questionnaire designed to help health care providers offer more accurate stress and trauma treatment.

"Given the utility and ease of use, LADS could be effective as a screening tool to identify ethnic and racial minority individuals in primary care settings who have a high trauma burden, and who need more extensive evaluation," says first author Honghu Liu, a professor in the UCLA School of Dentistry.

"We feel it will capture experiences that could be missed with current screening approaches," Prof Liu adds. "This could optimize affordable care as it strives to improve prevention of mental health problems."