In the big US cities, the "Voodoo" Black Caribbean immigrants make up more than 25 % of the Black population.

A recent analysis examining the mental health of Latino, Asian and Black immigrants, led at University of Michigan, made the first research of this type on Blacks of Caribbean descent.

The results help disentangle how ethnicity, gender, age at immigration and years of living in the U.S. are related to racial disparities in mental health and the likelihood of receiving treatment for mental disorders.

The studies point that immigrants have lower rates of mental disorders than native-born Americans, but this varies inside each population group, being linked to various factors. "It used to be thought that new immigrants were at greater risk for mental health problems than their U.S. born counterparts, and that as they got used to life in the U.S., the risk of mental health problems would decrease," noted the researchers. "We now know that what happens is just the opposite---for Black, Latino and Asian immigrants as well as for other groups."

The study verified the incidence of mental disorders and the use of mental health services and subjective satisfaction with treatment among Black Caribbeans and native Afro-Americans.

The team interviewed 3,570 African Americans, 1621 Blacks of Caribbean descent, and 891 non-Hispanic whites, all over 18. "Much of the previous research on mental health in Black immigrants of Caribbean descent has been conducted in the United Kingdom and in other European nations, comparing Caribbean Blacks to the native white populations," said social psychologist James S. Jackson, lead researcher. "This study is the first to examine within-race ethnic differences in mental health and use of mental health services in the U.S. population."

A previous research led by sociologist David R. Williams, at the Harvard School of Public Health, discovered that Black Caribbean immigrant men were more likely than African American men to have passed through mood and anxiety disorders in the last year.

But Black Caribbean immigrant women were found instead to be less likely than U.S.-born African American women to experience anxiety or substance abuse disorders in the last year and throughout their lives.

Only about 30 % of those suffering from mental disorders got mental health care services, with African Americans more likely to get assistance than first-generation Black immigrants. But Caribbean immigrants living in the U.S. for more than 21 years received the most medical care. "The longer Black Caribbeans live in the U.S. and younger they are when they immigrated, the more likely they are to use mental health services," Jackson said. "This suggests that socialization and access may play an important role in seeking and receiving treatment for mental health problems."

Caribbean Blacks from Spanish-speaking countries (Cuba, Dominican Republic) were much more likely to have used mental health services than Haitians (French speaking) or Caribbean Black Immigrants from English-speaking countries were.

Caribbean Blacks were much more satisfied with the mental health services than did the African Americans and those living in the U.S. Being 12 or younger, they were more likely to benefit from any mental health service.

"Our findings reveal that combining data for Caribbean Black immigrants or U.S.-born Caribbean Blacks with data for native African Americans obscures a great deal of variability in patterns and frequency of formal mental health service use," concluded Jackson. "It's important that we finally recognize the simple truth that all Black Americans are not the same."