A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in a sample of 289 African‐American women was evaluated. Using a structural equation methodology, life events, social support, physical health problems, and internalized racialism were significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Although neither marital status nor religious orientation had predicted inverse effects on depressive symptoms, we found that the effects of socioeconomic status and developmental status on depressive symptoms were mediated through these and other variables specified in the model.

An eight-variable model for understanding and predicting alcohol consumption in a sample of 289 African American women is evaluated using a structural equation methodology. We found that life events, physical health problems, and internalized racialism played important roles in accounting for variance in alcohol consumption. Marital status did not have the predicted inverse effect on alcohol consumption. While religious orientation did not have the expected inverse effect on alcohol consumption, it had an unexpected direct effect on internalized racialism, which had a direct effect on alcohol consumption. We found that the effects of socioeconomic status and developmental status on alcohol consumption were mediated through other variables specified in the model. Overall the model, which provided partial to complete support for five of eight hypotheses, provided a statistically adequate fit.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which a holistic model of mental health problems applies to the understanding and prediction of general mental health symptoms in an urban sample of 289 African American women. Our holistic model examines effects of eight variables on mental health problems: life events, social support, religious orientation, internalized racialism, physical health problems, marital status, socioeconomic status, and developmental status. From relationships hypothesized among variables, a structural equation model was formulated. Overall, the proposed model fit the data quite well. At the level of intervariable relationships, 7 of 8 hypotheses were partially to completely corroborated. Results were compared with parallel application of the holistic model to the understanding and prediction of alcohol consumption.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the extent to which a general model for understanding and predicting Black mental health problems accounts for the particular problem of alcohol consumption in an urban sample of 289 African American women. The general model consists of eight variables: life events, social support, religious orientation, internalized racialism, physical health problems, marital status, socioeconomic status, and developmental status. In Part I expected interrelationships among variables are presented, from which a structural equation model for understanding and predicting alcohol consumption is formulated. Methods for evaluating the model are described in Part II (International Journal of the Addictions, Vol. 25, No. 12).