Spivey Briana N, Abrams Jasmine A, Watson-Singleton Natalie N, Metzger Isha W
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia.
School of Public Health, Yale University.
Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2025 Jul;31(3):551-559. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000672. Epub 2024 Jun 6.
The Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema, a multidimensional construct that promotes self-reliance, self-silencing, self-sacrificial caregiving, and resilience, has been linked to depressive symptoms in Black women. Yet, additional research is needed to examine the mechanisms through which this association exists. The present study examines the indirect effect of social support beliefs on the relationship between the SBW schema and depressive symptoms.
Data from a sample of 194 Black women ( = 37.53, = 19.88) were collected using an online survey assessing internalization of the SBW schema, depressive symptoms, and social support-seeking beliefs.
A primary dimension of the SBW schema, the expectation to manifest strength, was significantly positively correlated with depressive symptoms and negatively correlated with social support seeking. Depressive symptoms were also significantly negatively correlated with social support beliefs. In addition, an indirect effect of support-seeking beliefs was observed between the expectation to manifest strength and depressive symptoms ( = .12, 95% CI [.02, .24]).
Findings from this study suggest that Black women experience impairing depressive symptoms, which can be explained by race and gender-specific stress-coping ideologies and behaviors, specifically, the SBW schema. Furthermore, the SBW schema is a factor that may contribute to adverse mental health outcomes among Black women vis-à-vis decreased support-seeking beliefs. We discuss the implications of these findings and how these results can help facilitate culturally competent care for Black women. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
坚强黑人女性（SBW）模式是一种多维结构，它促进自力更生、自我沉默、自我牺牲式的照料以及恢复力，已被证明与黑人女性的抑郁症状有关。然而，仍需要更多研究来探究这种关联存在的机制。本研究考察了社会支持信念在SBW模式与抑郁症状关系中的间接作用。
通过在线调查收集了194名黑人女性（年龄均值 = 37.53，标准差 = 19.88）的数据，该调查评估了SBW模式的内化程度、抑郁症状以及寻求社会支持的信念。
SBW模式的一个主要维度，即展现力量的期望，与抑郁症状显著正相关，与寻求社会支持显著负相关。抑郁症状也与社会支持信念显著负相关。此外，在展现力量的期望和抑郁症状之间观察到寻求支持信念的间接作用（效应值 = 0.12，95%置信区间[0.02, 0.24]）。
本研究结果表明，黑人女性经历了损害性的抑郁症状，这可以通过种族和性别特定的压力应对观念及行为来解释，具体而言就是SBW模式。此外，SBW模式是一个可能导致黑人女性心理健康不良后果的因素，因为它降低了寻求支持的信念。我们讨论了这些发现的意义，以及这些结果如何有助于为黑人女性提供具有文化胜任力的护理。（《心理学文摘数据库记录》（c）2025美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
