Harold W. Neighbors Ph.D.
Associate Director of the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health
Director of the Program for Research on Black Americans
Professor Emeritus of Health Behavior and Health Education
University of Michigan
Email: woodyn@umich.edu
Discipline: Psychology, Public Health
Expertise: Mental Health, Public and Population Health, Disparities
Investigator Award 
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health: A National Study of Unmet NeedAward Year: 2003 Despite improved treatments for many mental disorders, profound racial and ethnic disparities continue in access to and use of mental health services in the United States. Social psychologist Harold W. Neighbors, Ph.D. has spent more than 20 years conducting research on mental health disparities. For his Investigator Award project, Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health: A National Study of Unmet Need, Dr. Neighbors analyzes differences in the prevalence of serious mental disorders, levels of impairment, and help-seeking behavior. He explores why African Americans seek professional help less frequently than white Americans. He also looks at how reliance upon help from social support networks and ministers, common in African American communities, can impede access to professional treatment. By integrating this new information with his past work, Dr. Neighbors plans to produce a comprehensive book that explains disparities in help-seeking and explores policy options for reducing them.
Background 
Harold W. Neighbors is a professor emeritus of health behavior and health education and associate director of the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health, where he is the principal investigator of two NIH training programs, Promoting Ethnic Diversity in Public Health Doctoral Training and the Michigan Bridge to the Doctorate Program. Dr. Neighbors is also the director of the Program for Research on Black Americans at the Institute for Social Research where he co-directs the African American Mental Health Research Center and is a co-principal investigator on the National Survey of American Life. His research interests include racial and ethnic influences on psychiatric diagnosis and community case-finding of mental disorder, and use of informal and professional mental health services by African Americans.
- Griffith, D.M., Neighbors, H.W., Johnson, J. Using National Data Sets to Improve the Health and Mental Health of African Americans: Challenges and Opportunities. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2009, 15(1): 86-95.
- Gonzalez, H.M., Croghan, T.W., West, B.T., Williams, D.R., Nesse, R., Tarrif, W., Taylor, R.J., Hinton, L., Neighbors, H.W., Jackson, J.S. Anti-Depressant Use among Blacks and Whites in the U.S.: Results from Two National Surveys. Psychiatric Services,
- Sellers, S.L., Neighbors, H.W. Effects of Goal-Striving Stress on the Mental Health of Black Americans. J of Health and Social Behavior, 2008, 49(1): 92-103.
- Neighbors, H.W., Woodward, A.T., Bullard, K.M., Ford, B.C., Taylor, R.J., Jackson, J.S. Mental Health Use among Older African Americans. American J of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2008, 16(12): 948-56.
- Broman, C.L., Neighbors, H.W., Delva, J., Torres, M., Jackson, J.S. Prevalence of Substance Use Disorders among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks in the NSAL. AJPH, 2008, 98(6): 1107-14.
- Woodward, A.T., Taylor, R.J., Bullard, K.M., Neighbors, H.W., Jackson, J.S. Use of Professional Services and Informal Support among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks with Mental Disorders. Psychiatric Services, 2008, 59(11): 1292-8.
- Watkins, D., Neighbors, H.W. An Initial Exploration of What Mental Health
- Ford, B.C., Bullard, K.M., Taylor, R.J., Toler, A.K., Neighbors, H.W., Jackson, J.S. Lifetime and 12-Month Prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, among Older African Americans: Findings from the National Surv
- Williams, D.R., Gonzalez, H.M., Neighbors, H.W., Nesse, R.N., Ableson, J.M., Sweetman, J., Jackson, J.S. Prevalence and Distribution of Major Depressive Disorder in African Americans, Caribbean Blacks and Non-Hispanic Whites: Results from the NSAL. Arch
- Neighbors, H.W., Caldwell, C., Williams, D.R., Nesse, R., Taylor, R.J., Bulard, K.M., Torres, M., Jackson, J.S. Race, Ethnicity, and the Use of Services for Mental Disorders: Results from the National Survey of American Life. Archives of General Psychia
- Neighbors, H.W., Njai, R., Jackson, J.S. Race, Ethnicity, John Henryism, and Depressive Symptoms. Research in Human Development, 2007, 4(1-2): 71-87.
- Williams, D.R., Gonzalez, H.M., Neighbors, H., Baser, R., Jackson, J.S. The Mental Health of Black Caribbean Immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life. AJPH, 2007, 97(1): 52-9.
- Jackson, J.S., Neighbors, H.W., Torres, M., Martin, L.A., Williams, D.R., Baser, R. Use of Mental Health Services and Subjective Satisfaction with Treatment among Black Carribbean Immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life. AJPH, 2007
- Mattis, J.S., Mitchell, J., Zapata, A., Grayman, N.A., Taylor, R.J., Chatters, L.M., Neighbors, H.W. Uses of Ministerial Support by African Americans: A Focus Group Study. American J of Orthopsychiatry, 2007, 77(2): 249-58.
- Sellers, S.L., Bonham, V., Neighbors, H.W., Amell, J.W. Effects of Racial Discrimination and Health Behaviors on Mental and Physical Health of Middle-Class African American Men. Health Education and Behavior, 2006, 36(1): 31.
- Joe, S., Baser, R.E., Breeden, G., Neighbors, H.W., Jackson, J.S. Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Lifetime Suicide Attempts among Blacks in the U.S.. JAMA, 2006, 296(17): 2112-23.