Understanding the Link Between Multiple Oppressions and Depression Among African American Women

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to examine the multiple oppression experiences of sexual objectification, racism, and gendered racism as predictors of depressive symptoms among a clinical sample of low-income African American women. In addition, we examined coping with oppression via internalization (i.e., the tendency to attribute responsibility or the cause of an oppressive event to oneself) as a mediator between these three intersecting forms of oppression and depressive symptoms. Participants included 144 African American women who sought some type of mental health treatment at a U.S. southeastern, public, urban, university-affiliated hospital that attends to a primarily indigent and underserved population. The results of our mediational analysis using bootstrapping provided support for a theorized model in which coping with oppressive events via internalization mediated the links between sexual objectification and depression and between racist events and depression but not between gendered racism and depression. In addition, a unique and direct effect of racist events on depression was found. Finally, the four variables in the model accounted for 42% of variance in depression scores. The study includes implications for future research and clinical work such as exploration of other mediators and the importance of comprehensive intake assessments and multicultural/feminist coping interventions.

Exploring Discrimination and Mental Health Disparities Faced By Black Sexual Minority Women Using a Minority Stress Framework

“…A two-stage approach to measuring discrimination (Shariff-Marco et al, 2011), with the first asking about the occurrence of a discriminatory act with no attribution to a specific social status, and the second allowing for attribution to multiple statuses simultaneously, circumvents some problems in this regard. Less commonly, combinations of marginalized statuses have been directly queried in survey items (e.g., asking participants to rate the frequency with which they have been called insulting names that referred to their gender and race, e.g., “Black bitch”; Buchanan, 2005, as cited in Carr et al, 2014) in an attempt to elucidate “intersectional” forms of discrimination (e.g., gendered racism).…”

“…In the context of mental health services, cultivating providers’ awareness and clinical skills around intersecting marginalized social statuses and encouraging inquiry about clients’ experiences of discrimination will aid in the accuracy of case formulations and provision of more appropriately nuanced care (Carr et al, 2014; DeBlaere & Bertsch, 2013; Szymanski, 2005). Providers ought to contextualize a client's presenting problems within broader sociohistorical injustices and can draw on feminist and womanist perspectives in approaching therapy (Carr et al, 2014; DeBlaere & Bertsch, 2013). Supporting a client's identification and deconstruction of stigmatizing cultural messages around race, gender, and/or sexual orientation may help to interrupt or counteract the internalization of such stigma.…”

“…Supporting a client's identification and deconstruction of stigmatizing cultural messages around race, gender, and/or sexual orientation may help to interrupt or counteract the internalization of such stigma. Additionally, facilitating a client's development of social networks composed of similar other multiply marginalized individuals through organized groups and promoting collective action is encouraged (Carr et al, 2014; DeBlaere et al, 2014). …”

“…However, Black sexual minority women have reported experiencing discrimination based on multiple other characteristics, such as body weight, age, and income (Wilson et al, 2011). Pre-specifying the basis or bases of discrimination in measures of discrimination frequency— even if intersectional bases (e.g., “gendered racism”; Carr, Szymanski, Taha, West, & Kaslow, 2014; Thomas, Witherspoon, & Speight, 2008) are included—ignores discrimination based on other, unspecified characteristics or combinations thereof and renders the overall frequency of discrimination experienced indiscernible.…”

Internalized HIV and Drug Stigmas: Interacting Forces Threatening Health Status and Health Service Utilization Among People with HIV Who Inject Drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia

“…For instance, researchers have identified unique stereotypes that Black women confront due to their race and gender in combination [52, 53] and have suggested that Black women encounter “racialized sexual harassment” or “gendered racism” that is distinct from common conceptions of either racism or sexism alone [54, 55]. Similarly, people with HIV who use drugs may confront and internalize stereotypes and discrimination that are specific to this particular combination of social statuses, and development and utilization of measures that are sensitive to this experience could yield unique insights relative to health status and health service utilization.…”