Publications

There is a need for additional research that intentionally utilizes an African-centered approach when examining the psychological experiences of African/Black people. Therefore, the current study utilized an African-centered psychological measurement to assess the degree to which Black women endorse culturally specific coping strategies. Specifically, the Africultrual Coping Systems Inventory (ACSI) was utilized to measure Black women’s use of collective coping, spiritual-centered coping, ritual-centered coping, and cognitive emotional debriefing. 282 cisgender women who self-identified as African American/Black (M_age = 20) completed the ACSI measure. By conducting an exploratory analysis, results indicated that the Black women in the sample were less likely to utilize ritual-centered coping (M = 1.54, SD = 2.07), more likely to utilize cognitive emotional debriefing (M = 12.04, SD = 8.46), and equally utilized spiritual-centered coping (M = 7.40, SD = 6.07) and collective coping (M = 7.39, SD = 5.83). Overall, this study can provide important implications for Black women’s health and wellness by explicitly outlining how culturally relevant coping strategies can aid in supporting Black women’s mental health and well-being. 

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a well-documented predictor of poor health and psychological outcomes across the lifespan. However, limited studies have examined these associations exclusively within a sample of Black men, despite their disproportionate exposure to ACEs related to systemic racism, poverty, and community violence. The current study aims to examine the impact of racial-cultural identity, operationalized through African Self-Consciousness (ASC), on the relationship between ACEs and psychological distress among Black men. A total of 109 self-identified African/Black men (Mage = 27.4) were surveyed and completed measures of ACEs, psychological distress, and racial-cultural identity factors, including African Self-Consciousness (ASC). Results indicated that ACEs positively and significantly predicted psychological distress; ASC negatively and significantly predicted the Social Dysfunction subscale of psychological distress; ASC did not significantly moderate the relationship between ACEs and psychological distress; however, exploratory findings indicated that the moderating role of ASC in the association between ACEs and psychological distress varied by age. Future research and clinical implications are discussed.