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Black Girl Magic? The Influence Of The Strong Black Woman Schema On The Mental Health Of Black Women In The United States, Stephanie Hall

Sociology Dissertations

The Strong Black Woman Schema (SBWS) refers to the collective believes, behaviors, resources and responses Black women are socialized to embody. The SBWS was developed as a positive counterimage to the negative stereotypes of Black women, such as the mammy or the jezebel, and is an important image among Black women. Observations suggest that the SBWS may affect how Black women experience and interpret stress and mental illness. I assert the SBWS may serve as one comprehensive explanation for the mental health outcomes observed for Black women. Qualitative and quantitative studies have identified a set of characteristics (i.e. strength, emotion …

'Tis Better To Give And To Receive: Social Support, Stress, And Mental Health In Dyadic Relationships, Stephanie Hansard

Sociology Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Research Questions: How do levels of perceived support within dyadic social networks interact to predict mental health outcomes for both network members? I examine whether one’s significant other’s level of perceived social support moderates the relationship between one’s own perceived social support and one’s own depressive and anxiety symptoms. I also consider whether stress may moderate the support-mental health relationship.

Method: I use Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling investigate how each respondent’s own perceived social support and each respondent’s significant other’s perceived social support predict each respondent’s levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. I use a sample of 982 respondent dyads, …

The Mental Health Consequences Of Losing A Parent: Does Culture Moderate The Impact Of Parental Death?, Daisuke Ito

Sociology Dissertations

The death of a parent represents a potential traumatic life event that has been linked to depression in both Japan and the United States. Yet experiences surrounding death and ways of grieving are framed differently across cultures. At the individual level, the majority of the bereaved people in both Japan and the United States attempt to maintain bonds with the deceased family members. Being complementary to the individual-level desire, Japanese death-related beliefs and practices seem to provide a tool to maintain bonds. In contrast, American death-related beliefs and practices may be at odds with the individual desires by encouraging the …