scholarly journals Is John Henryism a Health Risk or Resource?: Exploring the Role of Culturally Relevant Coping for Physical and Mental Health among Black Americans

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-151
Author(s):  
Millicent N. Robinson ◽  
Courtney S. Thomas Tobin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
John Henryism ◽  
Study Results

Research shows that John Henryism, a high-effort, active coping style, is associated with poor physical health, whereas others suggest it may be psychologically beneficial. As such, it is unclear whether John Henryism represents a health risk or resource for black Americans and whether its impact varies across sociodemographic and gender groups. The present study used data from a representative community sample of black Americans (n = 627) from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (2011–2014) to clarify the physical and mental health consequences of John Henryism by assessing its relationship with depressive symptoms and allostatic load (AL). Results indicate that John Henryism is associated with increased AL scores and fewer depressive symptoms. Additionally, the association between John Henryism and AL is conditional on socioeconomic status. Study results underscore the importance of evaluating both physical and mental health to clarify the health significance of John Henryism among black Americans.

Do Racial Differences in Coping Resources Explain the Black–White Paradox in Mental Health? A Test of Multiple Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
pp. 002214652110410
Author(s):  
Patricia Louie ◽  
Laura Upenieks ◽  
Christy L. Erving ◽  
Courtney S. Thomas Tobin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Coping Resources ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Health Study ◽  
White Americans

A central paradox in the mental health literature is the tendency for black Americans to report similar or better mental health than white Americans despite experiencing greater stress exposure. However, black Americans’ higher levels of certain coping resources may explain this finding. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (n = 1,186), we examine whether black Americans have higher levels of self-esteem, social support, religious attendance, and divine control than white Americans and whether these resources, in turn, explain the black–white paradox in mental health. In adjusted models, the black–white paradox holds for depressive symptoms and any DSM-IV disorder. Findings indicate that black Americans have higher levels of self-esteem, family social support, and religiosity than white Americans. Causal mediation techniques reveal that self-esteem has the largest effect in explaining black–white differences in depressive symptoms, whereas divine control has the largest effect in explaining differences in disorder.

scholarly journals Beta Inflated Regression Models on the Physical and Mental Health of Nigerian Stroke Survivors

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-312
Author(s):  
KS Oritogun ◽  
OO Oyewole
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Stroke Survivors ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Health Risk Factors

Background: Stroke is one of the major public health problems worldwide. Physical and mental health data of stroke survivors are often expressed in proportions. Therefore, the Beta Regression models family for data between zero and one will be appropriate. Objectives: To identify a suitable model and the likely risk factors of physical and mental health of stroke survivors. Method: Secondary data of stroke survivors from two tertiary health Institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria, were analysed. Inflated Beta (BEINF) and Inflated-at-one-Beta (BEINF1) models were compared using Deviance (DEV), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) for model selection. The model with minimum DEV, AIC and BIC was considered to be better. Results: The deviance (-86.0604,), AIC (-46.0604) and BIC (6.4391) values of the BEINF1 model for physical health and the deviance (-20.1217), AIC (19.8783) and BIC (72.3778) values of BEINF1 model for mental health were smaller than BEINF models. Therefore, BEINF1 was the better model to identify the health risk factors of stroke survivors. Age, marital status, diastolic blood pressure, disability duration and systolic blood pressure had a significant association with physical health, while BMI had a significant positive association with mental health.  Conclusion: The beta-inflated-at-one (BEINF1) model is suitable for identifying health risk factors of stroke survivors when the outcome variable is a proportion. Both demographic and clinical characteristics were significantly associated with the health of stroke survivors. This study would assist researchers in knowing the appropriate model for analysing proportion or percentage response variables.

scholarly journals Emotional Responses to Stressors in Everyday Life Predict Long-Term Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 402-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruixue Zhaoyang ◽  
Stacey B Scott ◽  
Joshua M Smyth ◽  
Jee-Eun Kang ◽  
Martin J Sliwinski
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Latent Growth ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Ecological Momentary

Abstract Background Individuals’ emotional responses to stressors in everyday life are associated with long-term physical and mental health. Among many possible risk factors, the stressor-related emotional responses may play an important role in future development of depressive symptoms. Purpose The current study examined how individuals’ positive and negative emotional responses to everyday stressors predicted their subsequent changes in depressive symptoms over 18 months. Methods Using an ecological momentary assessment approach, participants (n = 176) reported stressor exposure, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) five times a day for 1 week (n = 5,483 observations) and provided longitudinal reports of depressive symptoms over the subsequent 18 months. A multivariate multilevel latent growth curve model was used to directly link the fluctuations in emotions in response to momentary stressors in everyday life with the long-term trajectory of depressive symptoms. Results Adults who demonstrated a greater difference in stressor-related PA (i.e., relatively lower PA on stressor vs. nonstressor moments) reported larger increases in depressive symptoms over 18 months. Those with greater NA responses to everyday stressors (i.e., relatively higher NA on stressor vs. nonstressor moments), however, did not exhibit differential long-term changes in depressive symptoms. Conclusions Adults showed a pattern consistent with both PA and NA responses to stressors in everyday life, but only the stressor-related changes in PA (but not in NA) predicted the growth of depressive symptoms over time. These findings highlight the important—but often overlooked—role of positive emotional responses to everyday stressors in long-term mental health.

scholarly journals Racial discrimination and allostatic load among First Nations Australians: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Cave ◽  
Matthew N. Cooper ◽  
Stephen R. Zubrick ◽  
Carrington C. J. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Increased allostatic load is linked with racial discrimination exposure, providing a mechanism for the biological embedding of racism as a psychosocial stressor. We undertook an examination of how racial discrimination interacts with socioecological, environmental, and health conditions to affect multisystem dysregulation in a First Nations population. Methods We conducted latent class analysis (LCA) using indicators of life stress, socioeconomic background, and physical and mental health from a nationally representative sample of Australian Aboriginal adults (N = 2056). We used LCA with distal outcomes to estimate the effect of the latent class variable on our derived allostatic load index and conducted a stratified analysis to test whether allostatic load varied based on exposure to racial discrimination across latent classes. Results Our psychosocial, environmental, and health measures informed a four-class structure; ‘Low risk’, ‘Challenged but healthy’, ‘Mental health risk’ and ‘Multiple challenges’. Mean allostatic load was highest in ‘Multiple challenges’ compared to all other classes, both in those exposed (4.5; 95% CI: 3.9, 5.0) and not exposed (3.9; 95% CI: 3.7, 4.2) to racial discrimination. Allostatic load was significantly higher for those with exposure to racial discrimination in the ‘Multiple challenges’ class (t = 1.74, p = .04) and significantly lower in the ‘Mental health risk’ class (t = − 1.67, p = .05). Conclusions Racial discrimination may not always modify physiological vulnerability to disease. Social and economic contexts must be considered when addressing the impact of racism, with a focus on individuals and sub-populations experiencing co-occurring life challenges.

Anaemia and physical and mental health in the very old: An individual participant data meta-analysis of four longitudinal studies of ageing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Palapar ◽  
Ngaire Kerse ◽  
Anna Rolleston ◽  
Wendy P J den Elzen ◽  
Jacobijn Gussekloo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Functional Ability ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Very Old ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Objective To determine the physical and mental health of very old people (aged 80+) with anaemia. Methods Individual level meta-analysis from five cohorts of octogenarians (n = 2,392): LiLACS NZ Māori, LiLACS NZ non-Māori, Leiden 85-plus Study, Newcastle 85+ Study, and TOOTH. Mixed models of change in functional ability, cognitive function, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health over time were separately fitted for each cohort. We combined individual cohort estimates of differences according to the presence of anaemia at baseline, adjusting for age at entry, sex, and time elapsed. Combined estimates are presented as differences in standard deviation units (i.e. standardised mean differences–SMDs). Results The combined prevalence of anaemia was 30.2%. Throughout follow-up, participants with anaemia, on average, had: worse functional ability (SMD −0.42 of a standard deviation across cohorts; CI -0.59,-0.25); worse cognitive scores (SMD -0.27; CI -0.39,-0.15); worse depression scores (SMD -0.20; CI -0.31,-0.08); and lower ratings of their own health (SMD -0.36; CI -0.47,-0.25). Differential rates of change observed were: larger declines in functional ability for those with anaemia (SMD −0.12 over five years; CI -0.21,-0.03) and smaller mean difference in depression scores over time between those with and without anaemia (SMD 0.18 over five years; CI 0.05,0.30). Conclusion Anaemia in the very old is a common condition associated with worse functional ability, cognitive function, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health, and a more rapid decline in functional ability over time. The question remains as to whether anaemia itself contributes to worse outcomes or is simply a marker of chronic diseases and nutrient deficiencies.

Familism and the Hispanic Health Advantage: The Role of Immigrant Status

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina J. Diaz ◽  
Michael Niño
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Familial Support ◽  
Hispanic Community ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

It is well known that Hispanic immigrants exhibit better physical and mental health than their U.S.-born counterparts. Scholars theorize that stronger orientations toward the family, also known as familism, could contribute to this immigrant advantage. Yet, little work directly tests whether familial attitudes may be responsible for the favorable health of foreign-born Hispanics. We investigate this possibility using biomarkers, anthropometrics, and mental health assessments from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (N = 4,078). Results demonstrate that the relationship between familial attitudes and health vary depending on the outcome assessed. While Hispanics with strong attitudes toward familial support have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, those who report high referent familism display worse mental health outcomes. We find little evidence that familism is linked to physical health or that immigrant generation moderates the relationship of interest. Our results challenge assumptions that familism is responsible for the comparably better health of foreign-born Hispanics.

scholarly journals Quality of Life, Physical and Mental Health of Family Caregivers of Dependent People with Complex Chronic Disease: Protocol of a Cohort Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (20) ◽  
pp. 7489
Author(s):  
Raquel Marfil-Gómez ◽  
Marta Morales-Puerto ◽  
Álvaro León-Campos ◽  
José Miguel Morales-Asencio ◽  
Juan Carlos Morilla-Herrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Study Results ◽  
New Diagnosis ◽  
Complex Chronic Disease ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

Background: informal caregivers have a high risk of suffering from diseases derived from the chronic stress to which they are subjected for their dedication to the care of their relatives. Such stress has a direct influence on the person cared for, mainly affecting the quality of their care. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to assess the association of caregiving on physical and mental perceived health in family caregivers of dependent adults with complex chronic diseases. Methods: a prospective longitudinal cohort study, with a follow-up period of 36 months (HUELLA cohort). The exposed cohort will be formed by family caregivers of dependent patients with complex chronic pathologies. The unexposed cohort will be taken from the general population adjusted for age, sex and health. Outcome variables will include attendance to health services, consumption of psychoactive drugs, dedication to care (only in exposed cohort), concession of the Act on Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for dependent persons (exposed only), perceived physical and mental health, depression level, burden level and new diagnosis of chronic pathology of the caregiver during the study. Results: the expected results will be applicable and will incorporate improvements to the usual health system clinical practice, providing feedback to professionals dedicated to the provision, planning and design of services to family caregivers, as well as to groups and organizations of caregivers. Conclusions: investments in preventing low-quality informal care are key, mainly through early identification and interventions to support caregivers who suffer from stress, anxiety or depression.

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