Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research (CCDOR), USA; University of Minnesota, USA.
Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2014 Jul;6(2):135-50. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12015. Epub 2013 Oct 4.
There is evidence that Black patients may experience stereotype threat--apprehension about being negatively stereotyped--in healthcare settings, which might adversely affect their behavior in clinical encounters. Recent studies conducted outside of healthcare have shown that a brief self-affirmation intervention, in which individuals are asked to focus on and affirm their valued characteristics and sources of personal pride, can reduce the negative effects of stereotype threat on academic performance and on interpersonal communication.
This randomised controlled trial examined whether a self-affirmation (SA) intervention would decrease the negative effects of stereotype threat (negative mood, lower state self-esteem, greater perceptions of racial discrimination) and increase communication self-efficacy among Black primary care patients. Self-affirmation was induced by having patients complete a 32-item values affirmation questionnaire.
Patients in the SA condition had lower levels of performance self-esteem and social self-esteem than patients in the control. There were no differences between the SA and the control groups on negative mood, communication self-efficacy, and perceptions of discrimination.
Our SA intervention lowered state self-esteem among Black patients. Future research is needed to determine the type of SA task that is most effective for this population.
有证据表明，黑人患者在医疗保健环境中可能会经历刻板印象威胁——对被负面刻板印象化的担忧——这可能会对他们在临床接触中的行为产生不利影响。最近在医疗保健领域之外进行的研究表明，一种简短的自我肯定干预措施，即要求个人关注和肯定自己的有价值的特征和个人自豪感的来源，可以减少刻板印象威胁对学术表现和人际沟通的负面影响。
这项随机对照试验研究了自我肯定（SA）干预是否会减少刻板印象威胁（负面情绪、自尊心下降、对种族歧视的感知增加）对黑人初级保健患者的负面影响，并提高沟通自我效能感。通过让患者完成一个包含 32 个项目的价值观肯定问卷来诱导自我肯定。
与对照组相比，自我肯定组的患者在表现自尊和社会自尊方面的得分较低。在负面情绪、沟通自我效能感和歧视感知方面，自我肯定组和对照组之间没有差异。
我们的自我肯定干预措施降低了黑人患者的状态自尊心。未来的研究需要确定最适合该人群的自我肯定任务类型。
