Although it may be reasonable to assume that some of the factors responsible for low Black participation in clinical trials and other biomedical research are the same for psychiatric research, there has been little systemic study of the elements associated with participation in genetic research of psychiatric disorders. Much of the mental illness “attitudes” research among Blacks, or comparing Blacks with other ethnic groups, has dealt with perceptions of different kinds of psychiatric disorders, stigma surrounding mental illness, and attitudes towards treatment of psychiatric disorders (Crogan et al., 2003; Schnittker, 2003).
