# Delineating Sources of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Differences in the Diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

> **NIH NIH K01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $1

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This K01 award will launch Dr. Kerry Kinney’s independent research career focused on reducing disparities in
the diagnosis and treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). GAD is the most common anxiety disorder
in primary care settings, where the rate of GAD misdiagnosis is estimated at 67-71%. Misdiagnosis can delay
treatment, exacerbate chronicity, and increase personal and societal costs. GAD misdiagnosis appears
especially high in those marginalized by systemic inequality, leading to disparities in access to quality GAD
treatment. The proposed K01 research leverages large-scale, epidemiologic and electronic health record (EHR)
datasets to evaluate two potential contributors to GAD diagnostic disparities: 1) psychometric bias, or indications
that GAD’s diagnostic criteria fail to capture the same construct across sociodemographic groups or over time,
and 2) disparities in patient-centered care, which is characterized by collaborative decision-making and
respecting patients’ values, culture, and context. To accomplish Aim 1, Dr. Kinney will assess for the presence
of measurement non-invariance and differential item functioning (indicators of psychometric bias) in GAD
symptom criteria across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups and over time in epidemiologic datasets. To
accomplish Aim 2, Dr. Kinney will employ natural language processing in EHR data to identify language indicative
of non-patient-centered care in primary care notes. She will assess how non-patient-centered care relates to
sociodemographic factors and GAD diagnosis. Dr. Kinney proposes to build upon her strong foundational training
by targeting career development in: 1) specialized research skills needed for responsibly and ethically conducting
health disparities research; 2) advanced quantitative modeling to enhance theoretical models of GAD and clarify
the role of social determinants of health in GAD diagnosis; 3) the technical biomedical informatics and textual
analysis skills necessary to harness EHR data for health disparities research; and 4) grant-writing skills to obtain
independent extramural funding. Dr. Kinney has assembled a highly qualified, interdisciplinary team of mentors,
collaborators, and consultants to support her in achieving these training aims. Collectively, the proposed mentor
and co-mentor (Drs. Matthew Morris and Ashley Watts), collaborators (Drs. Glenn Gobbel, Mohammed Al-
Garadi, and David Cole), and consultants (Drs. Katja Beesdo-Baum, Matthew Diemer, and Siddharth Pratap)
provide the optimal combination of expertise to facilitate the successful completion of the proposed research and
training plan and launch Dr. Kinney’s independent research career. The research and training aims will occur in
the exceptional, multidisciplinary, resource-rich environment at Vanderbilt University. This K01 award will support
Dr. Kinney in establishing an independent research program that aims to elucidate the mechanisms underlying
dis...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11032150
- **Project number:** 1K01MD020122-01
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kerry Kinney
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-19 → 2024-09-20

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11032150

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11032150, Delineating Sources of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Differences in the Diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (1K01MD020122-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11032150. Licensed CC0.

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