Strengths despite stress: Social-structural stressors and psychosocial buffers of depressive symptoms among U.S. Black men.

Abstract

We examined the association between social-structural stressors—racial discrimination, incarceration, and unemployment—and depressive symptoms among 578 predominantly low-income urban Black men, ages 18–45. We also examined the extent to which two protective factors—social support and problem-solving coping—moderated the relationship between social-structural stressors and depressive symptoms. Results showed that more everyday racial discrimination and incarceration, but not unemployment, significantly predicted more depressive symptoms. The links between discrimination, incarceration, and depressive symptoms were stronger for men who reported lower levels of problem-solving coping and social support than those with higher levels. Our study suggests that interventions emphasizing protective factors may help Black men cope with some of the deleterious effects of racial discrimination and incarceration. It also underscores a need for structural interventions that reduce racial discrimination and incarceration. Depression among Black men is not simply a biomedical or psychological condition, but also a critical health equity issue.

Black men's perceptions of mothers as primary support for wellness

“…However, a major limitation of these studies is that they are from the mother's perspective and not the sons themselves. The few studies that captured the voices of Black men regarding their wellness and development purported that the mother/son social support process is a two-way and interactive endeavor whereby sons draw heavily upon their relationship with their mothers to learn how to navigate romantic relationships (Morman & Whitely, 2012), that Black college men are not adequately prepared to address elements that impact their health and how they can improve it (Mincey et al, 2017), and that interventions to help Black men should emphasize protective factors and championed for structural interventions to reduce racial discrimination and incarceration (Del Río-González et al, 2022). One study, an examination of the help-seeking behaviors of Black men reported that 33% of their respondents used both professional services and informal support, while 14% of the men relied on professional support only, 24% of the participants used informal support only, and 29% of them did not seek help at all (Woodward et al, 2011).…”

Cultural Trauma Scale: Psychometric evaluation of Black men’s beliefs, emotions, and coping.

“…Therefore, this factor must be reliably and validly measured. In Black men daily racial discrimination and incarceration are correlated with depressive symptoms; yet there is literature underscoring the strengths of Black men as a potential resource (del Río-González et al, 2022). Both the resilience (Factor 5) and cognitive–behavioral coping (Factor 2) facilitate the measurement of these assets.…”

Mattering, wellness, and fairness: Psychosocial goods for the common good.

“…If the social fabric is characterized by injustice, anomie, individualism, inequality, competition, and shaming, people can feel unworthy and isolated (Case & Deaton, 2020;O'Neil, 2022;Payne, 2017;Putnam, 2021;Sandel, 2020). In cases of discrimination against sexual minorities, for instance, we witness higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of personal and social well-being (Del Río-González et al, 2022;Thorpe et al, 2022). The same applies in cases of discrimination against immigrants (Lincoln et al, 2021).…”

“…Their very identity is denied or denigrated, and their personhood disrespected, leading to high levels of distress. Similarly, Black men who experience more everyday racial discrimination display more depressive symptoms (Del Río-González et al, 2022).…”