Inner-City African-American Women’s Adolescence as Stressful Life Events: Understanding Substance Abusing Behavior

Abstract

Lula Beatty (2003:59) asks, “What makes a black woman, voluntarily take a substance into her body which alters her perceptions and feelings of well-being?” This research examines African American women’s substance abuse as a response to stressful life events grounded in adolescence, drawing in part on the cognitive-transactional approach and distal stressor model to discuss the effects of stressors on mental health and substance abusing behavior. Most respondents viewed their adolescent experiences and the associated stress as tribulations or lessons to be lived through, rather than a signal of needed change in their social, cultural, and ecological life circumstances. The effect of exposure to constant stressors early in the life course coupled with proximal stressors often resulted in negative active responses to stress (i.e. substance abuse) and continued stunted emotional growth. Thus, our findings indicate that the experience of African American women as adolescents contributes to understanding substance abuse amongst this population. These findings further help develop the cognitive-transactional model, while adding to the distal stressors and life process model as a way of considering gender, race, and structural forces.

Coping with Economic Stress: A Test of Deterioration and Stress-Suppressing Models

“…Our findings, along with those from previous studies, suggest that stress was impacted by the type of stressors and resources examined (Durr et al, 2010;Ensel & Lin, 1991;Schulz et al, 2006). For example, the adaptive requirements of the stress, the expectedness, controllability, and desirability of the stressful event, as manifested in the person's definition of the situation, will determine the impact of stress on individual outcomes (Grezo & Sarmany-Schuller, 2015;Zemore et al, 2013).…”

“…To date, five studies test these models with culturally specific samples (Coohey & Easton, 2016;Durr, La Fleur, & Dunlap, 2010;Hobbs, 1997;Noh & Avison, 1996;Schulz et al, 2006). This study tests the deterioration and stress-suppressing model by linking economic stress (an objective evaluation of a person's financial circumstance) to financial strain (a subjective evaluation of a person's financial circumstance), which is a unique contribution.…”

A Qualitative Study of Black Women’s Experiences in Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services

“…Yet, they revealed many challenges to staying in recovery because their existing social networks are likely to favor substance use. For example, women who engage in substance use are likely to be in relationships with other substance abusers, and histories of abuse and neglect that lead to substance use also compromise their ability to access social supports within their own families (Durr, Small, & Dunlap, 2010).…”