Journal
JOURNAL OF BLACK PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 41, Issue 4, Pages 384-396Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/0095798414543014
Keywords
Strong Black Woman stereotype; anxiety; depression; stress; African American women
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Research indicates that Black women highly endorse the Strong Black Woman (SBW) stereotypea perception that Black women are naturally strong, resilient, self-contained, and self-sacrificing. This endorsement appears to be a good thing, providing Black women protection against the numerous stressors they must contend with daily. However, anecdotal and qualitative evidence suggests that SBW endorsement limits Black women's ability to cope healthily which exacerbates the negative mental health outcomes of stress. Because few empirical studies of SBW have been conducted, how SBW endorsement might influence the stress-mental health association is unknown. The current study addresses this gap by quantitatively examining the relationships among SBW endorsement, stress, and anxious and depressive symptoms with a sample of 92 Black female college students. Results revealed that both moderate and high levels of SBW endorsement increase the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms, while low levels of SBW endorsement do not. These data extend previous qualitative findings and suggest that embracing the SBW stereotypic image increases Black women's vulnerability to depressive symptoms associated with stress.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available