Shifting Patterns in the Premedical Education of African Americans and the Role of the HBCU

The very term ‘Dissenter’ became problematic in the United States, following the passing of the First Amendment. The formal separation of Church and state embodied in the First Amendment was followed by the ending of state-level tax support for churches. None of the states established after 1792 had formal religious establishments. Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Methodists accounted for the majority of the American population both at the beginning and end of this period, but this simple fact masks an important compositional shift. While the denominations of Old Dissent declined relatively, Methodism grew quickly, representing a third of the population by 1850. Dissenters thus faced several different challenges. Primary among these were how to understand the idea of ‘denomination’ and also the more general role of institutional religion in a post-establishment society. Concerns about missions, and the positions of women and African Americans are best understood within this context.

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Racial Discrimination Predicts Mental Health Outcomes Beyond the Role of Personality Traits in a Community Sample of African Americans

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702620957318 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 216770262095731

Author(s):

Yara Mekawi ◽

Courtland S. Hyatt ◽

Jessica Maples-Keller ◽

Sierra Carter ◽

Vasiliki Michopoulos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

African Americans ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Racial Discrimination ◽

Community Sample ◽

Mental Health Outcomes ◽

Hierarchical Regression

Despite a consistent body of work documenting associations between racial discrimination and negative mental health outcomes, the utility and validity of these findings have recently been questioned because some authors have posited that personality traits may account for these associations. To test this hypothesis in a community sample of African Americans ( n = 419, age: M = 43.96 years), we used bivariate relations and hierarchical regression analyses to determine whether racial discrimination accounted for additional variance in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms beyond the role of personality. Bivariate relations between personality traits and racial discrimination were small and positive (i.e., rs ≈ .10). Regression results demonstrated that racial discrimination accounted for variance in depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress independent of personality traits ( ps < .01). These results suggest that personality traits do not fully explain associations between racial discrimination and negative mental health outcomes, further supporting the detrimental impact of racial discrimination on the mental health of African Americans.

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June Bacon-Bercey: Pioneering Meteorologist and Passionate Supporter of Science

Eos ◽

10.1029/2020eo140183 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 101 ◽

Author(s):

Katherine Kornei

Keyword(s):

African Americans ◽

Atmospheric Science

Bacon-Bercey redefined the role of the television meteorologist, blazing trails for African Americans and endowing an AGU scholarship for women studying atmospheric science.

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Awareness of the Historical Role of the Church and Change in Self-Esteem among Older African Americans

Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being ◽

10.1111/j.1758-0854.2012.01072.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 240-260 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Neal Krause ◽

R. David Hayward

Keyword(s):

African Americans ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Older African Americans ◽

Historical Role ◽

The Church

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Neighborhood disadvantage and preterm delivery in Urban African Americans: The moderating role of religious coping

SSM - Population Health ◽

10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.09.001 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 656-661 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson ◽

Jaime Slaughter-Acey ◽

Cleopatra H. Caldwell ◽

Jamila Kwarteng ◽

Dawn P. Misra

Keyword(s):

African Americans ◽

Religious Coping ◽

Preterm Delivery ◽

Neighborhood Disadvantage ◽

Moderating Role

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Racial Discrimination and Trajectories of Problematic Alcohol Use Among African American Emerging Adults: The Role of Organizational Religious Involvement

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/10901981211051650 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 109019812110516

Author(s):

Danielle R. Busby ◽

Meredith O. Hope ◽

Daniel B. Lee ◽

Justin E. Heinze ◽

Marc A. Zimmerman

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

African Americans ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Racial Discrimination ◽

Religious Involvement ◽

Problematic Alcohol ◽

Stable Class ◽

Problematic Alcohol Use

Racial discrimination jeopardizes a wide range of health behaviors for African Americans. Numerous studies demonstrate significant negative associations between racial discrimination and problematic alcohol use among African Americans. Culturally specific contexts (e.g., organized religious involvement) often function protectively against racial discrimination’s adverse effects for many African Americans. Yet organized religious involvement may affect the degree to which racial discrimination increases problematic alcohol use resulting in various alcohol use trajectories. These links remain understudied in emerging adulthood marked by when individuals transition from adolescence to early adult roles and responsibilities. We use data from 496 African American emerging adults from the Flint Adolescent Study (FAS) to (a) identify multiple and distinct alcohol use trajectories and (b) examine organizational religious involvement’s protective role. Three trajectory classes were identified: the high/stable, (20.76% of sample; n = 103); moderate/stable, (39.52% of sample; n = 196); and low/rising, (39.72% of the sample; n = 197). After controlling for sex, educational attainment, and general stress, the interaction between racial discrimination and organized religious involvement did not influence the likelihood of classifying into the moderate/stable class or the low/rising class, compared with the high/stable class. These results suggest organized religious involvement counteracts, but does not buffer racial discrimination’s effects on problematic alcohol use. Findings emphasize the critical need for culturally sensitive prevention efforts incorporating organized religious involvement for African American emerging adults exposed to racial discrimination. These prevention efforts may lessen the role of racial discrimination on health disparities related to alcohol use.

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