Keywords
black women; mental health; strong black woman schema; superwoman schema; psychology
Abstract
The Strong Black Woman Schema (SBWS) is a cultural expectation placed on black women tounfailingly display signs of strength and caretaker qualities, while suppressing their emotions.The present study aimed to examine the relationship between the SBWS and psychologicaldistress, suicidal behaviors, and resilience. Researchers expected to find a positive relationshipbetween the SBWS and psychological distress, a positive relationship between the SBWS andresilience, and an undefined relationship between the SBWS and suicidal behaviors. The studyalso examined the potential moderating effects of the SBWS and resilience on the existingpsychological distress-suicidal behaviors relationship. Lastly, the study examined howsocioeconomic status moderates the relationship between the SBWS and psychological distress.It was expected that the SBWS and resilience would weaken the relationship betweenpsychological distress and suicidal behaviors; higher socioeconomic status would weaken therelationship between the SBWS and psychological distress. Researchers recruited 177 blackwomen to take a 30-minute survey. A bivariate correlation analysis showed that the SBWSshares a positive relationship with psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, andstress, and suicidal behaviors. However, resilience was not associated with the SBWS. Resiliencewas found to moderate the psychological distress-suicidal behaviors relationship, while theSBWS did not. Socioeconomic status did not moderate the relationship between the SBWS andpsychological distress. The findings of this study bear important clinical and communityimplications. By determining the harmful effects of the SBWS, further research can beconducted on how black woman, mental health professionals, and community advocates canmitigate its effects.
Date Created
May 2019
STARS Citation
Castelin, Stephanie and White, Grace, ""I'm a Srong Independent Black Woman": The Cost of Strong Black Woman Schema Endorsement" (2019). EGS Content. 160.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/egs_content/160
https://works.bepress.com/stephanie_castelin/1/download/
Included in
Clinical Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons