Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Center for Forensic Psychiatry, Lansing, MI, USA.
Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Ethn Health. 2022 May;27(4):946-962. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2020.1818695. Epub 2020 Sep 15.
Current racial mental health disparities among African American women have been attributed to chronic experiences of race-related stressors. Increased exposure to racism in predominately White spaces may increase reliance on culturally normative coping mechanisms. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological distress, perceived racial microaggressions, and an obligation to show strength/suppress emotions among educated, middle-class African American women. A sample of 243 African American women aged 19-72 years ( = 39.49 years) participated in an online study. Participants completed self-report measures of psychological distress (PHQ-8 and GAD-7), racial microaggressions (IMABI), and modified items from the Stereotypical Roles for Black Women (SRBWS) to assess an obligation to show strength/suppress emotions. Factor analyses were conducted to assess the reliability of the obligation to show strength/suppress emotions subscale in our sample. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and mediation analyses were also conducted to examine variable associations. Statistical analyses revealed educated, middle-class African American women who endorse an obligation to show strength/suppress emotions with perceived racial microaggressions experienced increased psychological distress. Obligation to show strength/suppress emotion may increase risk for psychological distress among African American women who perceive racial microaggressions. Future research and clinical implications are discussed.
目前，非裔美国女性的种族心理健康差距归因于与种族相关的压力源的慢性经历。在以白人为主要群体的环境中，接触种族主义的增加可能会增加对文化规范应对机制的依赖。本研究的目的是调查心理困扰、感知到的种族微侵犯与表现力量/抑制情绪的义务之间的关系，研究对象是非裔美国中产阶级受过教育的女性。243 名年龄在 19-72 岁的非裔美国女性（ = 39.49 岁）参与了一项在线研究。参与者完成了心理困扰（PHQ-8 和 GAD-7）、种族微侵犯（IMABI）以及从刻板的黑人女性角色（SRBWS）中修改的项目的自我报告测量，以评估表现力量/抑制情绪的义务。进行了因素分析，以评估我们样本中表现力量/抑制情绪分量表的可靠性。还进行了描述性统计、多元线性回归和中介分析，以检验变量之间的关联。统计分析显示，非裔美国中产阶级受过教育的女性，如果认同表现力量/抑制情绪的义务与感知到的种族微侵犯有关，那么她们的心理困扰就会增加。对于感知到种族微侵犯的非裔美国女性来说，表现力量/抑制情绪的义务可能会增加心理困扰的风险。讨论了未来的研究和临床意义。
