The Role of Racial Identity in the Relationship Between Life Stressors and Depressive Symptoms Among Black Adults in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Archibald ◽  
Kevin Daniels ◽  
Kim Dobson-Sydnor

The disproportionate rate of life stressors coupled with the unexpected lower rates of mental disorders among African Americans demands concurrent consideration of their cultural coping capacity. Racial identity (β = −.15, p < .01) and the interaction term assessing the moderating effect of racial identity on the relationship between life stressors and depressive symptoms (β = −.08, p < .01) remained significant when controlling for social demographics, despite the significant relationship of age, income, educational status, and work status. Findings from the analyses indicate that higher racial identity significantly reduced the relationship between life stressors and depressive symptoms, and lower racial identity significantly increased the relationship between life stressors and depressive symptoms even in the presence of social demographics.

Education ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank C. Worrell

Racial identity is one of the most frequently studied cultural identities in the United States, and it is examined most frequently in relation to African Americans. Racial identity is also examined in European American samples to a lesser extent, and there is a growing literature on the racial identity of biracial and multiracial individuals. Racial identity and ethnic identity are similar constructs, and there are some researchers who do not distinguish between the constructs, using the terms and the measurement instruments interchangeably. However, as the instruments are developed in relation to theoretical models that speak to one or the other construct specifically (i.e., ethnic or racial identity), this perspective is not adopted in this article. Thus this article focuses solely on racial identity as a construct and does not include literature on ethnic identity or studies that used instruments developed to measure ethnic identity. The relationship between racial identity and learning, and more specifically academic achievement, is typically studied in the context of the achievement gap among racial and ethnic groups in the United States, and is most closely associated with the achievement gap between African American and European American students. Thus, studies of the relationship of racial identity to learning typically involve black racial identity but not white racial identity. In most of the scholarship in this area, researchers examine the relationship of black racial identity attitudes to academic achievement or other academic constructs (e.g., motivation). Additionally, two of the preeminent theories of underachievement in African Americans and other underachieving groups—that is, cultural ecological theory and stereotype threat—implicate racial identity as a contributing factor. Although there is a strong belief that racial identity is related to learning, there is still considerable debate about the contexts in which this relationship is manifested and the strength and explanatory power of the relationship, and the evidence in favor of a direct relationship between the racial identity and learning is mixed at best.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-57
Author(s):  
Paul C. Archibald ◽  
Roland Thorpe

BackgroundWork-related stress (WRS) has been considered a major source of stress for adults in the United States for more than a decade and it is higher in urban settings and greater among Black adults. Although research has established a connection between WRS, life stressors, and depressive symptoms, no previous studies have explicitly examined the association between spillover from life stressors to work and depressive symptoms using a nationally representative survey of Black Americans.ObjectiveThis current study examines how work related stressors are related to depressive symptomatology among working Black adults in the United States (defined as Black adults 18 years or older who were employed at the time of the interview), and whether this relationship is mediated by life stressors.MethodsMultivariate logistic regression analysis compared work-related stress and other life stressors between working Black adults with depressed symptoms and working Black adults without depressive symptoms. Mediation of life stressors between work-related stress and depressive symptoms was also analyzed.FindingsWork-related stress (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.37, 2.32), (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.71), neighborhood stressors (OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.70), and financial stressors (OR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.54, 2.60) were associated with higher odds of experiencing depressive symptoms with low educational attainment serving as a critical component. Life stressors partially mediates the relationship between WRS and depressive symptoms (OR: 1.10, Bias-corrected 95% CI: 1.04, 1.16).ConclusionsThis study provides the foundation for the inclusion of other stressors (i.e., neighborhood and financial), beyond familial stressors, when exploring the spillover effect for working Black adults; taking into consideration the differential effects among high and low educational stratum. Organizations must begin to take a holistic and comprehensive approach when integrating policies and programs aimed at promoting interventions into their work-related stress prevention programs for Black adults—focusing on the full stress experience among workers at lower educational levels.


Author(s):  
Terence Young ◽  
Alan MacEachern ◽  
Lary Dilsaver

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protected-area managers from around the world. Within the British settler societies that dominated nineteenth century park-making, the United States’ National Park Service (NPS) and Canada’s National Parks Branch were the most closely linked and most frequently cooperative. Contrary to campfire myths and nationalist narratives, however, the relationship was not a one-way flow of information and motivation from the US to Canada. Indeed, the latter boasted a park bureaucracy before the NPS was established. The relationship of the two nations’ park leaders in the half century leading up to 1968 demonstrates the complexity of defining the influences on park management and its diffusion from one country to another.


2020 ◽  
pp. 009579842098366
Author(s):  
Yara Mekawi ◽  
Natalie N. Watson-Singleton

Though considerable empirical work has documented the ways in which African Americans are dehumanized by other racial groups, there is no research examining how perceiving dehumanization (i.e., metadehumanization) is associated with the mental health of African Americans. In this study, we examined the indirect effect of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms through metadehumanization and explored whether this indirect effect was contingent on racial identity (i.e., centrality, private regard). African American students completed measures in a university lab located in the Midwestern region of the United States ( N = 326; Mage = 19.7, 72.4% women). We found that the degree to which racial discrimination was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms through metadehumanization was contingent on racial identity dimensions. Specifically, the indirect effect of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms through metadehumanization was only significant for individuals who were relatively higher on centrality and private regard. This research suggests that the role of metadehumanization is stronger among African Americans who strongly identify with and have positive views of their racial group. We discuss these results in the context of social cognitive theories.


Author(s):  
Kortney Floyd James ◽  
Dawn M. Aycock ◽  
Jennifer L. Barkin ◽  
Kimberly A. Hires

Background: This study examined the relationship between racial identity clusters and postpartum depressive symptoms (PPDS) in Black postpartum mothers living in Georgia. Aims: A cross-sectional study design using Cross’s nigrescence theory as a framework was used to explore the relationship between Black racial identity and PPDS. Method: Black mothers were administered online questionnaires via Qualtrics. A total sample of 116 self-identified Black mothers were enrolled in the study. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 41 years ( M = 29.5 ± 5.3) and their infants were 1 to 12 months old ( M = 5.6 ± 3.5). The majority of mothers were married or cohabitating with their partner (71%), had a college degree (53%), and worked full-time (57%). Results: Hierarchical cluster analysis identified six racial identity clusters within the sample: Assimilated and Miseducated, Self-Hating, Anti-White, Multiculturalist, Low Race Salience, and Conflicted. A Kruskal-Wallis H test determined there was no difference in PPDS scores between racial identity clusters. Conclusion: This study is the first to explore the relationship between Black racial identity clusters of postpartum mothers and their mental health. Findings emphasize the complexity of Black racial identity and suggest that the current assessment tools may not adequately detect PPDS in Black mothers. The implications for these findings in nursing practice and future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
Elisabeth Kliem ◽  
Elise Gjestad ◽  
Truls Ryum ◽  
Alexander Olsen ◽  
Bente Thommessen ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: Findings on the relationship of psychiatric symptoms with performance-based and self-reported cognitive function post-stroke are inconclusive. We aimed to (1) study the relation of depression and anxiety to performance-based cognitive function and (2) explore a broader spectrum of psychiatric symptoms and their association with performance-based versus self-reported cognitive function. Method: Individuals with supratentorial ischemic stroke performed neuropsychological examination 3 months after stroke. For primary analyses, composite scores for memory and attention/executive function were calculated based on selected neuropsychological tests, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used. Psychiatric symptoms and self-reported cognitive function for secondary aims were assessed using the Symptom-Checklist-90 – Revised (SCL-90-R). Results: In a sample of 86 patients [mean (M) age: 64.6 ± 9.2; Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), 3–7 days post-stroke: M = 28.4 ± 1.7; National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) after 3 months: M = 0.7 ± 1.6] depressive symptoms (HADS) were associated with poorer memory performance after controlling for age, sex, and education (p ≤ .01). In a subsample (n = 41; Age: M = 65.7 ± 8.1; MMSE: M = 28.4 ± 1.8; NIHSS: M = 1.0 ± 1.9), symptoms of phobic anxiety (SCL-90-R) were associated with poorer performance-based memory and attention/executive function, and symptoms of anxiety (SCL-90-R) with lower attention/executive function. Higher levels of self-reported cognitive difficulties were associated with higher scores in all psychiatric domains (p ≤ .05). Conclusion: Even in relatively well-functioning stroke patients, depressive symptoms are associated with poorer memory. The results also suggest that various psychiatric symptoms are more related to self-reported rather than to performance-based cognitive function. Screening for self-reported cognitive difficulties may not only help to identify patients with cognitive impairment, but also those who need psychological treatment.


1998 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter R. Schumm ◽  
Farrell J. Webb ◽  
Stephan R. Bollman

In 1972, Bernard argued that marriage was good for men and bad for women. Subsequent research noted that wives, on average, reported lower marital satisfaction than husbands. Furthermore, when differences within couples existed on marital satisfaction, the wife was usually the less satisfied spouse; however, most previous studies of the gender/marital satisfaction relationship had not been based on nationally representative samples. A nationally representative sample from the 1988 Survey of Families and Households was used to assess the relationship of gender with marital satisfaction. Within-couple analyses indicated that wives were less satisfied with their marriages than husbands and that, when substantial within-couple differences occurred with respect to marital satisfaction, the wife was usually the less satisfied spouse. Results provide at least small support for feminist assertions about the relatively adverse nature of marriage for women in the United States.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 658-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shozo Takai

Forty-seven isolates of Ceratocystis ulmi collected from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Iran were classified with respect to their ability to produce cerato-ulmin (CU) and synnemata, their radial growth, mycelial habit, and pathogenicity.Twenty-nine isolates clearly produced CU in a measurable quantity while 18 isolates produced it only in trace quantities. In general, the former produced fluffy mycelium and were active in synnemata formation. They were aggressive in pathogenicity with one exception. The latter group of isolates generally produced waxy, yeastlike mycelium and formed very few synnemata. They were all nonaggressive in pathogenicity. Radial growth was generally higher among the isolates that produced CU in larger quantities than among those producing CU in trace quantities. The relationship between CU production and pathogenicity affords a method for estimating isolate pathogenicity without the need for host inoculation.


Author(s):  
Suryanti Suryanti ◽  
Andi Ipaljri

In the current era of globalization, humans always interact with technological developments. One result of the development of technology is the use of computers. The use of computers that are not under the ergonomic position causes effects on health, one of them is tension-type headaches. In the United States, 1-4% of patients coming to the Emergency Care Unit complain of headache, 90% of them are tension-type headaches. The proportion of migraine and other headache syndromes in the hospital. Harapan Bunda in 2011 and RS. Camatha Sahidya in Batam in Batam was 5% and 0.7% respectively. Whereas the incidence of tension headaches in 5 puskesmas in Batam in 2014 ranged from 0.5% - 1.3%. The proportion of tension headaches at the BIP Clinic in the January-April 2018 period is 1.5%. Tension-type headaches that occur continuously can cause barriers to daily activities. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship of computer use with the incidence of tension-type headaches in workers. This research uses a descriptive-analytic method with a cross-sectional approach. The sampling technique is purposive sampling. Of 97 respondents who visited the clinical BIP that met the criteria, it was found that computer user respondents experienced tension-type headaches of 18 people (42.9%) and not tension-type headaches of 24 people (57.1%). Whereas the respondents who were not computer users experienced tension-type headaches of 10 people (18.2%), and non-tension-type headaches of 45 people (81.8%). Bivariate chi-square analysis showed that p = 0.008 (p <0.05). This means that Ha is accepted and H0 is rejected.


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