The Path to Better Health for Black Women: Predicting Self-Care and Exploring Its Mediating Effects on Stress and Health

Abstract

Stress leads to poor self-rated health for many black women because of racial and economic discrimination which results in psychological distress and restricted access to resources. Resilience factors such as self-care may be able to buffer the impact of stress; however, the role of self-care in reducing the effect of stress on self-rated health has not been explored. Self-care involves the utilization of self-awareness and agency to seek remedy for imbalance and to sustain equilibrium. Despite anecdotal exploration of these factors, there has not been a systematic investigation of whether self-awareness and agency indeed predict self-care. Subsequently, this study sought to provide evidence that self-awareness and resilience predict self-care, and self-care can mediate the negative relationship between stress and self-rated health. A cross-section of 223 black women living in the United States completed a battery of assessments of self-care, mindfulness, perceived stress, resilience, and self-rated health. Through a series of regression analyses exploring mediating effects, a path emerged. Findings indicate that awareness and resilience do predict self-care, and self-care mediates the negative relationship between stress and health. These analyses suggest that the role of stress on black women’s health can be reduced by the implementation of awareness and resilience.

How socioeconomic status influences self-care for Black/African American women: A differential item analysis

“…This hypothesis was evidenced by 49% of self-care activities significantly differing by SES. Consequently, these findings substantiate the literature that self-care is greatly impacted by SES for Black women ( Suplee et al, 2015 , Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Fortunately, the literature also suggests self-care can improve health ( Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ). Self-care is the application of a variety of activities, mind and body related, that are intentionally employed to restore health or prevent disease ( Denyes et al, 2001 , Chang et al, 2005 , Li et al, 2010 , Kinser et al, 2016 , Shanklin-Flowers, 2012 ).…”

“…Self-care is the application of a variety of activities, mind and body related, that are intentionally employed to restore health or prevent disease ( Denyes et al, 2001 , Chang et al, 2005 , Li et al, 2010 , Kinser et al, 2016 , Shanklin-Flowers, 2012 ). This literature suggests personal income and education are positively associated with self-care, and that there is a positive linear relationship between number of dependents, a proxy for resilience, and self-care ( Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ). The latter finding implies that as the number of individuals a Black woman cares for increases, the greater her self-care ( Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ).…”

“…This literature suggests personal income and education are positively associated with self-care, and that there is a positive linear relationship between number of dependents, a proxy for resilience, and self-care ( Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ). The latter finding implies that as the number of individuals a Black woman cares for increases, the greater her self-care ( Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ). The inverse of this relationship was reported by Suplee et al (2015) as they observed that women of color practice self-care less due to caring for others.…”

“…Using a combined inventory of self-care activities ( Saakvitne and Pearlman, 1996 , Butler, 2010 ), this study asked which self-care practices differ based on SES. It was hypothesized that a majority of items would differ based on existing literature that suggests there are positive relationships between self-care and income, education, and number of dependents ( Suplee et al, 2015 , Adkins-Jackson et al, 2019 ).…”