Effects of client and therapist ethnicity and ethnic matching: a prospective naturalistic study of outpatient mental health treatment in Northern Norway

Abstract

We explored the effects of ethnicity on mental health treatment in the population of North Norway that largely consists of indigenous Sami and non-Sami Norwegians. As the two groups are comparable in their socio-economics, ethnic effects can be separated from their most common confounders. The effect of client and therapist ethnicity and client therapist ethnic match on treatment was examined among psychiatric outpatients in this setting. Client (n 335) and therapist (n 33) demographics and ethnicity were recorded prior to intake. Self-reported psychosocial distress was recorded at intake, termination and 20-month follow-up. Therapists reported their clinical assessment, treatment delivery at intake and discharge. The results indicated that therapist ethnicity was associated with the amount and type of service provided but improvement was not. Both the delivery of treatment and improvement did not differ significantly by client ethnicity. Ethnic matching was associated with greater symptomatic improvement in treatments of moderate duration.