Racial Group Identity, Psychosocial Resources, and Depressive Symptoms: Exploring Ethnic Heterogeneity among Black Americans

Heart Trouble and Racial Group Identity: Exploring Ethnic Heterogeneity Among Black Americans

“…Moreover, "individuals vary in the degree to which they identify with their ascribed ethnic group and the extent to which their group identity is salient and significant to them" (Phinney 1996:143-4 (Broman et al 1988;Brown et al 2002;Demo and Hughes;Ida and Christie Mizell 2012). Aside from these factors, research also suggests that the development and importance of racial group identity varies by gender such that racial-ethnic identity is more salient for Black females compared to Black males (Jaret and Reitzes 1999;Phinney 1990).…”

“…Although there are important commonalities among groups in the U.S. that identify as Black, there are significant differences including ethnicity. Second, several studies indicate that racial group identity is an important factor in the well-being of minorities in the U.S. (Christie-Mizell et al 2010;Ida and Christie-Mizell 2012). This study helps further clarify how race-related facets of the self can potentially be protective or serve as a psychosocial resource against heart disease.…”

“…Although there are significant similarities in the African American and Caribbean Black experiences, such as a shared history of slavery and oppression and continuing struggles with structural and interpersonal discrimination in contemporary America (Ida and Christie-Mizell 2012;Shaw-Taylor 2007;Waters 1999), there are also many important differences. With respect to sociodemographic characteristics, Caribbean Blacks are more likely to be of higher socioeconomic status than African Americans.…”

“…Black group identity is multidimensional and has been most often conceptualized as feelings of closeness to other Blacks and positive Black group evaluation (Demo and Hughes 1990). Closeness to other Blacks captures individuals' levels of feelings or understanding and intimacy with other Blacks (Broman et al 1988;Demo and Hughes 1990;Ida and Christie-Mizell 2012;Shelton 2008), while Black group evaluation represents an overall appraisal of Blacks as a group, ranging from negative to positive views (Demo and Hughes 1990;Ida and Christie-Mizell 2012).…”

“…Finally, outcomes within the stress process model are the observed effects of stressors after accounting for the moderators (Pearlin et al 1981;Ida and Christie-Mizell 2012).…”