Evaluation of a Resilience Intervention to Enhance Coping Strategies and Protective Factors and Decrease Symptomatology

Objective: In this pilot study, the authors examined the effectiveness of a 4-week resilience intervention to enhance resilience, coping strategies, and protective factors, as well as decrease symptomatology during a period of increased academic stress. Participants and Methods: College students were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 30) and wait-list control (n = 27) groups. The experimental group received a psychoeducational intervention in 4 two-hour weekly sessions. Measures of resilience, coping strategies, protective factors, and symptomatology were administered pre- and postintervention to both groups. Results: Analyses indicated that the experimental group had significantly higher resilience scores, more effective coping strategies (ie, higher problem solving, lower avoidant), higher scores on protective factors (ie, positive affect, self-esteem, self-leadership), and lower scores on symptomatology (ie, depressive symptoms, negative affect, perceived stress) postintervention than did the wait-list control group. Conclusions: These findings indicate that this resilience program may be useful as a stress-management and stress-prevention intervention for college students.     

What's Race Got to Do With It? Racial Socialization's Contribution to Black Adolescent Coping

While youth generally experience stressors from developmental milestones, Black youth also face racialized stressors. Racial socialization has been found to help Black youth cope with racialized stressors, but research has yet to show its contribution to coping beyond general socialization practices. This study examines how racial socialization contributes beyond that of general coping socialization to coping behaviors. Fifty‐eight third–eighth‐grade (M_age = 11.3, SD = 1.54) youth reported general coping socialization and racial socialization practices and coping behaviors. Results indicate that for engagement coping, racial socialization messages contributed significantly to parent‐provided engaged socialization strategies. Implications are considered for the ways in which Black youth experience stress and require culturally specific practices for successful coping with frequently encountered stressors.     

Different pathways explain alcohol-related problems in female and male college students

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Comprehensive models elucidating the intricate associations of depressive symptoms, coping motives, alcohol use, alcohol-related problems (ARPs), and gender among young adults have been scarcely examined. This study investigated relationships among these variables and the effect of gender on these pathways. Methods: College students (N = 163; 49.7% female) completed self-report measures on alcohol consumption, depressive symptoms, coping motives, and ARPs. Results: Structural equation modeling showed that the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs was mediated by coping motives in both females and males. However, frequency of heavy alcohol use mediated the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs in females but not in males. Conclusions: Different models explain the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs in male and female college students. Prevention programs aimed at reducing ARPs should focus on increasing alcohol screening among students with depressive symptoms, teaching coping skills, and emphasizing moderation in alcohol consumption.     

The Use of Spiritual-Focused Coping Among Working-Class Black Women

Abstract

This study explored the use of spiritual-focused coping as a way of managing stress among working-class Black women. It was hypothesized that Black women would use spiritual-focused coping as a first response to stress and that they would find it to be the most helpful in coping with stress. It was also hypothesized that there were additional factors, such as age, place of origin, household composition and number of children in the household that influenced the use of spiritual-focused coping and the level of stress among this population. A total of 119 respondents, from four different sites in New Jersey completed a four-part questionnaire that included a demographic portion, the African American Women's Stress Scale (AWSS), the Ways of Coping Scale (WOC), and an open-ended question. Results of this study highlight the importance of spiritual-focused coping as a form of coping that is used by working-class Black women to help them to manage stress.     

Leading with racial equity: promoting Black family resilience in early childhood

ABSTRACT

It has been 47 years since Billingsley and Giovannoni penned a pointed analysis of child welfare’s failure of Black children the United States. This conceptual paper asserts that this failure will continue unless we take seriously the role that structural inequality plays in Black families’ lives. It updates Billingsley and Giovannoni’s paper by shifting the focus from children to families, grounding Black family well-being in a developmental model and constructing a racial equity approach to family resilience. The paper begins by establishing an empirical justification for focusing on Black families. This review of data on Black families further reveals early childhood to be a particular priority for intervention. The emerging model centers on Black families’ ability to navigate and negotiate for their needs. The model components are malleable factors that work together to form a “supportive state” and resilient pathway. Implications for the model’s compatibility with clinical family resilience models, two-generation approaches, and family-centered policymaking are discussed.     

‘Pain on Top of Pain,Hurtness on Top of Hurtness’: Social Discrimination,Psychological Well-Being,and Sexual Risk Among Women Living With HIV/AIDS

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explored how a subsample (n = 26) of participants in Protect and Respect (N = 184), a safer-sex intervention for women living with HIV/AIDS (WLH/A), discussed their experiences of social discrimination and the impact of discrimination on their lives, psychological well-being, and risk behaviors during group intervention sessions. The majority of participants was Black (83%), earned less than $10,000 per year (80%), and acquired HIV through heterosexual sex (58%). Analyses demonstrated that social discrimination manifested in the women's lives as poverty, HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and gender inequality. These experiences caused intense psychological distress and limited WLH/A's ability to implement the safer-sex skills that they learned during the intervention. We discuss the applied and theoretical implications of our findings, advocating for HIV and sexual risk-reduction interventions that are based on an ecological framework that addresses holistically the individual, relational, and sociostructural factors that affect women's sexual risk behaviors.     

Randomized controlled trial of the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with undergraduate university students

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with college students. Participants: College students (aged 18–23) from a large Midwest US university who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial during the 2015 spring semester. Methods: College students were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 64) or a control (n = 65) group. Intervention participants received three 45-minute RCI sessions over subsequent weeks. All participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments at the beginning of Week 1 and end of Week 3. Student resilience, coping, hope, stress, depression, and anxiety were assessed. Results. RCI participants reported significantly more hope and less stress and depression from Week 1 to Week 3 compared with control participants. Results for resilience also approached statistical significance. Effect sizes were small to moderate. Conclusions: This study found preliminary evidence that RCI is an effective resilience intervention for use with college students.     

Comparison of two approaches to prevention of mental health problems in college students: Enhancing coping and executive function skills

Objective: College students face a significant number of stressors, increasing risk for internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. The current study examines two promising avenues of intervention aimed to reduce stress and prevent psychopathology in this population: a coping skills group and a cognitive training program. Participants: 62 undergraduate students from two universities were recruited from 2013 to 2015. Methods: Students were randomized to a 6-week coping skills group or cognitive training program and completed measures of stress, coping, executive function, and symptoms of anxiety, depression and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at pre- and post-intervention. Results: Participants in both conditions reported significant decreases in social stress, executive function difficulties, and anxiety symptoms post-intervention. Students in the cognitive program improved significantly more on measures of behavior regulation and ADHD symptoms compared to the coping group at post-intervention. Conclusions: Brief stress management interventions targeting coping and executive function may benefit college students at risk for psychopathology.     

A synergy of contemporary activism to address police maltreatment of Black males: An intersectional analysis

ABSTRACT

A panoramic overview of contemporary and historical activism to address the perennial tension between police and young Black males in the United States of America is extensively articulated. Furthermore, an intersectional analysis framework is utilized to provide, and explain the unintentional synergy of activism among different groups in the Black community such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the inveterate political class, and the venerable Black church to mitigate police maltreatment of Black males during the era of the nation’s first Black president. Moreover, we discuss the various aggressive policing tactics used in maltreating Black males, some criminal justice reforms achieved in the last eight years, and more importantly we offer suggestions to improve the relationship between police and the Black community.     

Self-blame and stress in undergraduate college students: The mediating role of proactive coping

Objective: This study aimed to examine the mediating relationship of proactive coping on self-blame and stress among US undergraduate college students. Participants: The sample of undergraduate college students (n?=?261) were recruited through their Introduction to Psychology course and registered for the study through a research-based computer program utilized at the university in the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters. Methods: Participants voluntarily completed a battery of self-report questionnaires that measured self-blame, proactive coping, and stress. Correlation and regression-based mediation analyses were utilized to address the study objectives. Demographic differences were explored using comparative analyses. Results: Proactive coping was identified as a mediator between self-blame and stress. Correlation analyses revealed self-blame, proactive coping, and stress were interrelated with one another. Ethnicity differences were observed on proactive coping. Conclusions: Proactive coping mediated the relationship between self-blame and stress and was negatively related to the other included behavioral constructs.     

Negative Social Contextual Stressors and Somatic Symptoms Among Young Black Males: An Exploratory Study

This study examines whether negative social contextual stressors were associated with somatic symptoms among young Black males (N = 74) after accounting for background and psychological characteristics. Using Cunningham and Spencer’s Black Male Experiences Measure, negative social contextual stressors connoted those experiences connected to the personal attributes, devaluation, and negative imagery of young Black males, such as being followed when entering a store or police or security guards asking them what they are doing when hanging out (e.g., in the park or playground or on the street corner). Results showed that such stressors made a unique and significant contribution to the experience of somatic symptoms. Future research directions and implications for addressing the larger societal perceptions of young Black males are discussed.     

Sleep Quality and Alcohol Risk in College Students: Examining the Moderating Effects of Drinking Motives

Abstract

Objective: Sleep problems and alcohol misuse are common issues experienced by college students that can have detrimental effects on overall health. Previous work indicates a strong relationship between poor sleep quality and alcohol risk in this population. This study explored the moderating effect of drinking motives in the relationship between global sleep quality and experience of alcohol-related negative consequences. Participants: College students (N = 1,878) who reported past-month drinking. Methods: Participants completed online surveys assessing sleep and alcohol-related behaviors. Results: Poorer sleep quality and higher drinking motives (coping, conformity, and enhancement) predicted greater alcohol-related consequences, controlling for drinking. Further, coping motives moderated the relationship between sleep quality and consequences such that participants reporting poor sleep and high coping motives experienced heightened levels of consequences. Conclusions: These findings advance the understanding of the relationship between sleep problems and alcohol-related risk and provide implications for targeted campus-based health promotion interventions.     

Sexual Health Interventions for Black Women in the United States: A Systematic Review of Literature

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate approaches used in sexual health interventions targeting Black women in the United States. Methods: We conducted a review of 15 sexual health intervention studies for Black women published between January 2000 and May 2017 in the United States. Results: Each intervention focused on HIV/sexually transmitted infection prevention, incorporated an asset and deficit-based approach, primarily used individual-level assets, and was effective in achieving the stated sexual health-related outcomes. Conclusions: Comprehensive sexual health interventions require further development and refinement to include more community and institutional-level assets to improve long-term sustainable change and empower Black women.     

From Problems to Personal Resilience

SUMMARY

This paper reviews data on select areas relevant to the status, functioning, and general well-being of African American Youth. Practitioners in both policy and clinical intervention must assert a greater role in helping these adolescents grow, develop, and become prepared to take their rightful place in American Society. Attention is afforded the African American Family, particularly Black youth and the threats, both historical and contemporary, which confront their ability to survive, cope, and sustain a resilient presence. Conflict theory is used to understand how this population interfaces with oppression, and a resilience framework, coupled with group as a method are presented as strategies for working with Black adolescents. The authors proffer that a justice-based model is useful in supporting this resilience framework within a group approach.     

Examining the role of racism in the risky alcohol use behaviors of black female college students

Objective: This study explores the impact racism has on the drinking behaviors of Black college women. Little is known about Black college women's experience of racism and the impact racism has on their psychological wellbeing and drinking behaviors. The current study fills a gap in our understanding of the role racism plays in the risky drinking behavior of Black college women. Participants: 469 Black college women ages 18–29 were sampled from 8 colleges and universities across the US, in 3 waves from December 2014-August 2017. Results: Findings suggest that general life stress and perceived racism are significantly associated with alcohol use among Black college women. However, only increased experiences of racism increase Black college women's engagement in risky drinking. Conclusions: The findings of this study serve as an entry point for a more nuanced assessment of stressors among Black college women that may inform drinking behaviors in this population.     

The strength of Black families: A commentary on Leading with Racial Equity

ABSTRACT

This commentary provides an overview of resilience in the Black family. It also offers a reflection on important work in this issue assessing the historical and future-oriented conceptualization of Black families in the social welfare system. A research program spanning an investigation of low-income Black families to theoretical and intervention development is also provided. The commentary concludes with a call to increase the number of researchers and the quality of research in this area to improve the lived experiences and well-being of Black families.     

I got all my sisters with me (on Black Twitter): second screening of How to Get Away with Murder as a discourse on Black Womanhood

ABSTRACT

In addition to performing racial identity on Black Twitter, Black users also use the platform to host discourse on Blackness. Tweets, hashtags, and trends associated with the television show How to Get Away with Murder are used to demonstrate that second screening and co-viewing of the series on Twitter enables a technocultural discourse on a shared cultural history of Black womanhood. Specifically, we address scenes portrayed in HTGAWM and highlight the intersection of race and gender. From a critical Black feminist lens we analyze the response on Black Twitter.     

The Role of Perceived Racial Discrimination in the Marriage Gap Between Black and White People

Abstract

Many explanations offered for the gap in marriage rates between Black and White people are economic and cultural. Less often considered are how racial social psychological factors influence marriage rates. In this study, we use critical race theory and the life course perspective to investigate how perceived racial discrimination impacts the likelihood of marriage for Black and White people. Data for the study are taken from the Portraits of American Life Study (N?=?678). The results of logistic regression analyses show that among people who report perceived racial discrimination, White people generally have a higher probability of being married compared to Black people. Analyses by age demonstrate that among younger adults, Black people who perceive racial discrimination are equally likely to be married as White people and have a higher probability of being married than Black people who do not report perceptions of racial discrimination. A negative influence on the odds of marriage related to perceived racial discrimination for Black people becomes clearer as respondents age. The findings highlight the importance of considering perceptions of racial discrimination to better understand the marriage gap between Black and White people across the life course.     

Coping and Adjustment in Male and Female Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the effects of childhood sexual abuse for male and female survivors, characteristics of the abuse experience, current coping strategies, and current psychological adjustment. Nineteen male and 59 female adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, recruited from both local and national support groups, completed a background questionnaire, dispositional coping inventories measuring current and retrospective abuse-specific coping styles, and measures of current psychological adjustment. In response to sexual abuse experienced during childhood, avoidance coping emerged as the most frequently used strategy by both sexes. Although there were no gender differences in current use of problem-focused and avoidance strategies, males related more use of acceptance whereas females utilized more emotion-focused coping. In general* females reported significantly greater trauma-related distress than males, including higher levels of anxiety, depression, and post-trauma symptoms.     

Puerto Rican Abusive and Non-Abusive Mothers' Beliefs About Appropriate and Inappropriate Child Discipline

Abstract

Qualitative findings from face-to-face interviews of a subset of participants in a large quantitative study are used to explore the perspectives of 10 professional Black women (PBW) regarding their definitions of spirituality and their experiences using this resource to cope with work-related stress. Findings include that many PBW do not differentiate between spirituality and religion and that they utilize spirituality-particularly prayer, meditation, and inspirational readings-to gain personal strength, inner peace, and guidance and to reflect on and reappraise stressful situations in the workplace. Further, many PBW view spirituality as a problem-focused, rather than an emotion-focused, coping strategy. Implications for social work practice and future research are offered.