Black women’s mental health matters: Theoretical perspectives and future directions

Abstract

Despite recent sociological research exploring how stratification systems impinge on the health of socially disadvantaged populations, Black women's mental health is rarely a topic of investigation among scholars of medical sociology, sociology of race and racism, or sociology of gender. In this review, we incorporate perspectives from sociology, social psychiatry, psychology, and social work to develop a transdisciplinary intersectional model of Black women's mental health. We also present critical interventions in the extant literature. First, though stress exposure is generally associated with poor mental health, more research is necessary to ascertain the gendered-racialized stressors to which Black women are exposed, owing to their racial and gender oppression. Second, we admonish mental health scholars to incorporate other status dimensions (e.g., nativity, sexual orientation, age) to provide a more nuanced depiction of Black women's psychological health. Third, the unique and enduring relationship between the U.S. punishment system and the mental health of Black women should be further explicated in future research. Last, we envision a body of work on Black women's mental health that captures the ways in which they cope with societal level marginalization, as these forms of resilience and resistance may be mental health protective.

Gendered Racial Microaggressions, Psychosocial Resources, and Depressive Symptoms among Black Women Attending a Historically Black University

“…G. Williams and Lewis 2019), socialization messages (Moody and Lewis 2019), physical activity (Wright and Lewis 2020), and disengagement coping (Lewis et al 2017) influence the relationship between gendered racial microaggressions and mental health. Last, though our findings focus on black women in general, black women are not a monolithic population (Erving, Patterson, and Boone 2021; Erving and Smith 2021). Research is needed that examines how black women of varied ethnicities and immigrant statuses experience and cope with gendered racial microaggressions.…”

“…A recent review heralded gendered racial microaggressions as a critical determinant of black women’s mental health (Erving, Patterson, and Boone 2021). Research confirms this notion by demonstrating that GRMS are detrimental for black women’s mental health across a variety of outcomes, including self-esteem (Martins et al 2020), anxiety symptoms (Wright and Lewis 2020), psychological distress (Lewis and Neville 2015), and traumatic stress symptoms (Moody and Lewis 2019).…”

Burdens of the what‐if: Vicarious anti‐Black racism and stress for Black mothers

“…Lastly, prior scholarship utilizing the Mundane Extreme Environment Stress framework highlights that Black Americans remain in an environment where anti‐Black racism is constant and ubiquitous, thus producing, and perpetuating stress at the microlevel (Peters & Massey, 1983; Smith & Landor, 2018). Exploration into the role of familial relationships may be particularly useful in contextualizing the continual stress of anti‐Black racism, as well as how engaging with aspects of social support may lessen the burden of racism‐related stressors (Erving et al, 2021; Hall, 2018). Relatedly, Black feminist scholars have emphasized that Black mothers and families are not functioning from a place of deficit.…”

Gendered Racial Microaggressions and Black Women’s Sleep Health

“…With regards to research on stress and health, this study demonstrates gendered racial microaggressions comprise an important contribution to the small, but growing, literature on intersectional stress exposure. Such measures will allow for a more precise assessment of stress exposure among particular groups occupying a specific constellation of disadvantaged social identities (Ching et al 2018; Erving, Patterson, and Boone 2021). Future research on stress and health should develop other intersectional stress measures relevant to the specific social identities of other historically disadvantaged groups (e.g., sexual minority Black men).…”