Two Peas in a Pod? An Exploratory Examination Into Cancer-Related Psychosocial Characteristics and Health Behaviors Among Black Immigrants and African Americans

Abstract

Introduction. Most studies lump Black immigrants (BIs) and African Americans (AAs) as “Black/African American” during investigation. Such categorization assumes that the sociocultural determinants that influence BIs are the same as for AAs. This study attempts to disentangle the AA and BI subgroups to recognize the differences in cancer-related psychosocial characteristics and health behaviors. Methods. Merged data from the Health Information National Survey (2011–2017) were used. Two groups were created: those who identified as AA and those who identified as AA but were born outside the United States (BI). Between-group differences were assessed with Mann–Whitney U and chi-square tests. Results. Positive communication patterns with health care providers were significantly higher among AAs ( M [mean] = 3.41, SD [standard deviation] = 0.68) compared with BIs ( M = 3.28, SD = 0.71) ( p = .004). A greater proportion of BIs indicated that their health was excellent (14.2%), compared with AAs (7.9%). AAs reported higher cancer family history (75.1%) than BIs (46.5%). More AAs had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime (41.5%) than BIs (16.7%). BIs consumed significantly more fruits each day ( M = 2.77, SD = 1.43) than AAs ( M = 2.40, SD = 1.44) ( p < .001). BIs also reported more physical activity ( M = 2.62, SD = 2.15) than AAs ( M = 2.37, SD = 2.18) ( p = .030). AA women were more likely to have had a pap smear test ( M = 2.07, SD = 1.44) compared with BI women ( M = 1.73, SD = 1.21) ( p = .002). Discussion. Evidence suggests the need to disentangle the “Black/African American” ethnic grouping. Lumping the BI populations together with the AAs, who have been in the United States for generations, may limit the ability to uncover and consequently address culturally driven disease prevention efforts and promote understanding of the biological, environmental, and psychosocial risk factors within Black heterogeneous populations.

Descriptive analysis of social determinant of mental health factors in an ethnically diverse Black adult population

“…P-values for differences in mean scores were calculated using ANOVA and Chisquare for categorical variables. Low depression was defined as minimal to mild depression (0-9) and high depression was defined as moderate to severe and severe depression (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). Statistically significant values (p < 0.05)*…”

“…Assessing the heterogeneous characteristics within the Black population provides increased understanding of the diversity within the community and strengthens the effectiveness of mental health interventions to address disparities and unmet needs among Black people (2,19). This enhances innovation in modeling our mental health systems to meet the needs of Black people in more specific and effective ways towards closing public health gaps in Black mental health care (20,21).…”

“…The score ranges from 0 to 27 with each of the 9 items scored from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day) and higher scores representing greater symptoms of depression (17). PHQ-9 scores represents depressive symptoms that are minimal (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), moderate to severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19) and severe (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27).…”

Religiosity and stigmatization related to mental illness among African-Americans and Black immigrants: cross-sectional observational study and moderation analysis

“…Afro-Caribbean immigrants (n=13) were combined with African immigrants (n=52) into a Black immigrant group due to their small sample size. There is precedent for this, given similarities in migration experience among individuals who identify as Black (Amuta-Jimenez et al, 2019). To check for effect modification, the same regressions described above were performed with stratification by age, education, and ethnicity.…”

Health Disparities and the Heterogeneity of Blacks/African Americans in the United States: Why Should We Care?

“…Crafting interventions tailored to the specific needs of these two vastly different subgroups of U.S. Blacks will ensure consideration of the specific needs of BIs (e.g., general chronic disease awareness and increased cancer screening) and AAs (e.g., positive changes in health behaviors; Amuta-Jimenez et al, 2019).…”