Differences Between Frequency Of Diagnosis, Diagnosis Extremity, And Global Assessment Of Functioning Score In A Euro-American And Alaskan Native Client

Abstract

This research answers the question, given identical client information, history, and presenting issues, but variation in ethnicity, does diagnosis frequency, diagnosis extremity, or Global Assessment of Functioning score differ for an Euro-American male versus an Alaska Native male mental health client. Graduate counseling students, six males and six females, ranging in age from 22--59, currently enrolled at either the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage, or Alaska Pacific University, volunteered to participate in the present study. Participants were randomly assigned to view either a Euro-American or Alaska Native client's mock intake session. The mock videos were identical in script and environment; the only difference in the videos is that one male actor is Euro-American and the other actor is Alaska Native. Completed mental health intake forms were compared and evaluated through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Qualitatively, Strauss and Corbin's (1990) three step analytic process, grounded theory, was used to analyze the descriptive part of the intake form. Axis I, II, III, IV and V, of the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), multi-axial system, were quantitatively, assessed to determine diagnosis differences between the Euro-American and Alaska Native client. Results identify that counseling students in training view the Alaska Native client as overall more maladaptive versus the Euro-American client. Counselors-in-training expressed this tendency through more frequent diagnosis and lower Global Assessment of Functioning scores for the Alaska Native client. These results support the need for future research and counselor training programs to be aware of these tendencies of counselors-in-training.