No abstract

This randomized clinical trial aimed to determine feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of brief Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills videos in reducing psychological distress among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over six weeks, 153 undergraduates at a large, public American university completed pre-assessment, intervention, and post-assessment periods. During the intervention, participants were randomized to receive animated DBT skills videos for 14 successive days ( n = 99) or continue assessment ( n = 54). All participants received 4x daily ecological momentary assessments on affect, self-efficacy of managing emotions, and unbearableness of emotions. The study was feasible and the intervention was acceptable, as demonstrated by moderate to high compliance rates and video ratings. There were significant pre-post video reductions in negative affect and increases in positive affect. There was a significant time × condition interaction on unbearableness of emotions; control participants rated their emotions as more unbearable in the last four vs. first two weeks, whereas the intervention participants did not rate their emotions as any more unbearable. Main effects of condition on negative affect and self-efficacy were not significant. DBT skills videos may help college students avoid worsening mental health. This brief, highly scalable intervention could extend the reach of mental health treatment.

This study examined symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a nationally-representative sample of African American adults (n = 3,570), and correlations between OCD symptom dimensions and experiences of discrimination. Two categories of discrimination were examined, everyday racial discrimination and everyday non-racial discrimination (e.g., due to gender, age, and weight) to determine if racial discrimination had a unique impact on OCD symptoms. Results indicated that everyday racial discrimination was related to both categories of obsessions and all four categories of compulsions. Everyday non-racial discrimination, however, was not related to any of the categories of obsessions or compulsions. This indicates that racial discrimination is uniquely related to obsessions and compulsions for African Americans. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Objectives:The Strong Black Woman (SBW) ideal, which emphasizes self-reliance and strength, is considered an influential cultural image for many Black women. Research on how the SBW ideal may be reflected in maternal socialization is largely theoretical or qualitative. Methods: Guided by cultural models of parenting, we tested for racial/ethnic differences in the importance and meaning of SBWrelated attributes among 194 low-income, Black (22%), White (20%), and Latina (57%) families. Mothers (M ϭ 41.6 years) and daughters (M ϭ 15.4 years) completed semistructured interviews, q-sort tasks, and self-report measures. Group differences were examined with analysis of covariance, logistic regression, and multigroup path models. Results: Black adolescents were not described by mothers or adolescents as possessing more SBW-related attributes (e.g., strong-willed, independent, assertive) compared to adolescents of other racial/ethnic groups; however, tests of moderation indicate group differences in how mothers perceived these attributes. Black adolescents with high SBW-related attributes were viewed by their mothers as showing leadership, whereas White and Latina adolescents with these attributes were viewed by mothers as having externalizing problems. Black mothers also rated these attributes as more important for young adult women to possess compared to other mothers. Finally, Black mothers described self-reliance as the critical developmental task for their daughter more than White and Latina mothers. Conclusions: Findings suggest attributes consistent with the SBW ideal are valued by Black mothers more than Latina and White mothers from similar communities and provide empirical support about the potential importance of the SBW ideal in how Black mothers raise their daughters.

According to developmental niche theory, members of different cultural and ethnic groups often have distinct ideas about what children need to become well-adapted adults. These beliefs are reflected in parents’ long-term socialization goals for their children. In this study, we test whether specific themes that have been deemed important in literature on diverse families in the United States (e.g., Strong Black Woman [SBW], marianismo, familismo) are evident in mothers’ long-term socialization goals. Participants included 192 mothers of teenage daughters from a low-income city in the United States (58% Latina, 22% African American, and 20% European American [EA]/White). Socialization goals were assessed through a q-sort task on important traits for a woman to possess and content analysis of open-ended responses about what values mothers hoped they would transmit to their daughters as they become adults. Results from ANCOVAs and logistic regression indicate significant racial/ethnic differences on both tasks consistent with hypotheses. On the q-sort task, African American mothers put more importance on women possessing traits such as independence than mothers from other racial/ethnic groups. Similarly, they were more likely to emphasize self-confidence and strength in what they hoped to transmit to their daughters. Contrary to expectation, Latina mothers did not emphasize social traits on the q-sort; however, in open-ended responses, they were more likely to focus on the importance of motherhood, one aspect of marianismo and familismo. Overall, results suggest that these mothers’ long-term socialization goals incorporate culturally relevant values considered important for African American and Latino families.