Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Tahirah Abdullah

Second Advisor

Lizabeth Roemer

Third Advisor

Jessica LoPresit

Abstract

Racism has consistently been found to prompt adverse mental health outcomes among Black Americans (Paradies, 2006; Pieterse et al., 2012). Given that Afrocentric values are considered a contributor to the mental health and wellness of descendants of the African diaspora in African-centered psychology, an Afrocentric racism-related stress intervention may be uniquely beneficial for Black Americans (Belgrave & Allison, 2019). This study sought to explore the preliminary feasibility and outcomes of a proposed six-week Afrocentric group intervention for racism-related stress in a sample of four Black American adults. Data from study tracking, participant feedback, and group facilitator feedback were used to assess feasibility. Overall, the proposed Afrocentric group intervention appeared to be an acceptable intervention that could be successfully utilized with Black American adults experiencing racism-related stress. Despite initial challenges, recruitment was deemed to be feasible and found to be most effective via social media. Retention, data collection, resources, and ability to manage the intervention were all determined to be feasible. Preliminary outcome data showed significant decreases in cultural and institutional racism-related stress and perceptions of others as dangerous one-month post-intervention. There were no significant differences in self-reported depressive symptoms, anxious arousal, general anxiety, quality of life, Africentric values, racial pride, cognitive/emotional debriefing, spiritual-centered coping, collective coping, ritual-centered coping, awareness and relational resistance, or participation in resistance activities and organizations one-week or one-month post-intervention, although some changes were of medium to large effects, and may have been significant in a larger sample. Findings from this study support the feasibility of the proposed intervention and warrant additional pilot studies to further refine the intervention and assess efficacy.

Comments

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