Chapter 9: Resilience Theory and the Health Belief Model as Interventions for African American Males With Depression

Depression is a mental health condition that affects approximately 10% of adults in the United States in any given year (Conner et al., 2010a). Green et al. (2014) predicted that by 2030 depression will be the leading cause of disability worldwide. When left untreated, depression can be costly both to society and to the individual. Research has linked depression to decreased worker productivity (Wang et al., 2004) as well as high inpatient and outpatient healthcare costs (Green, et al., 2014). Bazargan-Hejazi, Ani, Gaines, Ahmadi, & Bazargan (2010) provided financial estimates showing that depression costs the United States over $50 billion a year in treatment expenses. Depression also has adverse effects on the individual in areas such as interpersonal relationships, impaired social functioning, and overall poor quality of life (Green et al., 2014). Other research has linked depression to two thirds of the suicides committed in the United States each year (Jackson, Knight, & Rafferty, 2010).