Purpose: This study examined the efficacy of a culturally congruent group treatment model, entitled “Claiming Your Connections” (CYC) aimed at reducing depressive symptoms and perceived stress, and enhancing psychosocial competence (i.e., locus of control and active coping) among Black women. Method: A total of 58 Black women recruited from health and human service community-based organizations were randomly assigned to either the CYC intervention or a wait-list control group. Women in the CYC program attended weekly group intervention sessions over a 10-week period, and the wait-list control group did not receive any treatment for the same duration. Results: At pretreatment both groups indicated moderate levels of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and psychosocial competence. After the intervention, the CYC group reported a significant reduction in depressive symptoms and perceived stress. There was no statistically significant change on these variables for the control group. Implications: Results suggest that the CYC group intervention program is effective with Black women who report having difficulty managing stressors of daily life.
AlegriaM.CaninoG.RiosR.VeraM.CalderonJ.RuschD.OrtegaA. N. (2002). Inequalities in use of speciality mental health services among Latinos, African Americans, and non-White Latinos. Psychiatric Services, 53, 1547–1555.
2.
AlfordB. A.BeckA. T. (1997). The integrative power of cognitive therapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
3.
AmsterJ.LazarusP. (1982). Locus of control disadvantaged high school dropouts: Preliminary data. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 55, 340–351.
4.
ArtinianN. T.WashingtonO. G.FlackJ. M.HockmanE. M.JenK. C. (2006). Depression, stress, and blood pressure in urban African American women. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 21, 68–75.
5.
AustinD. M. (2000). Greeting the second century: A forward look from historical perspective. In MorrisR.HoppsJ. G. (Eds.), Social work at the millennium: Critical reflections on the future of the profession (pp. 18–41). New York, NY: Free Press.
6.
BeckA. T.SteerR. A.BrownG. K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-II manual (2nd ed.).
San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Brace.
7.
BelgraveF. Z.Chase-VaughnG.GrayF.AddisonJ. D.CherryV. (2000). The effectiveness of a culture- and gender-specific intervention for increasing resiliency among African American preadolescent females. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 133–147.
8.
Boyd-FranklinN. (1991). Recurrent themes in the treatment of African American women in group therapy. Women and Therapy, 11, 25–40.
9.
CarringtonC. H. (2006). Clinical depression in African American women: Diagnoses, treatment, and research. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 779–791.
10.
CarterM.SbroccoT.GoreK.MarinN.LewisE. (2003). Cognitive behavioral group therapy versus wait-list control in the treatment of African American women with panic disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 505–518.
11.
CohenS.KamarckT.MermelsteinR. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.
12.
Crosbie-BurnettM.LewisE. (1993). Use of African-American family structures and functioning to address the challenges of European-American post divorce families. Family Relations, 42, 243–248.
13.
DentonT. (1990). Bonding and supportive relationships among Black professional women: Rituals of restoration. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11, 447–457.
14.
El-MohandesA. A. E.KielyM.BlakeS. M.GantzM. G.El-KhorazatyM. N. (2010). An intervention to reduce environmental tobacco smoke exposure improves pregnancy outcomes. Pediatrics, 125, 721–728.
15.
FensterA. (1996). Group therapy as an effective treatment modality for people of color. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 46, 399–416.
16.
FirstM. B.SpitzerR. L.GibbonM.WilliamsJ. B. W. (1997). User’s guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders: SCID-1 clinician version. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
17.
Francis-SpenceM. (1994). Group work and Black women viewing networks as groups: Black women meeting together for affirmative and empowerment. Group Work, 7, 109–116.
18.
GeronimusA. T.KeeneD.HickenM.BoundJ. (2007). Black-White differences in age trajectories of hypertension prevalence among adult women and men, 1999-2002. Ethnicity and Disease, 17, 40–48.
19.
GroteN. K.BledsoeS. E.WellmanJ.BrownC. (2007). Depression in African American and White women with low incomes: The role of chronic stress. Social Work and Public Health, 23, 59–88.
20.
GurinP. (1985). Women’s gender consciousness. Public Opinion Quarterly, 4, 143–163.
21.
GutierrezL. (1990). Working with women of color: An empowerment perspective. Social Work, 35, 149–153.
22.
hooksb. (2005). Sisters of the yam: Black women and self recovery. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
23.
HoppsJ.PinderhughesE.ShankarR. (1995). The power to care: Clinical practice effectiveness with overwhelmed clients. New York, NY: Free Press.
24.
HoppsJ. G.PinderhughesE. B. (1999). Group work with overwhelmed clients. New York, NY: Free Press.
25.
JesseD. E.BlanchardA.BunchS.DolbierC.HodgsonJ.SwansonM. S. (2010). A pilot study to reduce risk for antepartum depression among women in a public health prenatal clinic. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 31, 355–364.
26.
JonesL. V. (2004). Preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of a psycho-educational group intervention aimed at enhancing psychosocial competence among Black women. Social Work, 49, 75–84.
27.
JonesD. L.OwensM. I.LydstonD.TobinJ. N.BrondoloE.WeissS. M. (2010). Self-efficacy and distress in women with AIDS: The SMART/EST women’s project. AIDS Care, 22, 1499–1508.
28.
JosephJ. G.El-MohandesA. A. E.KielyM.Ei-KhorazatyM. N.GantzM. G.JohnsonA. A.SubramanianS. (2009). Reducing psychosocial and behavioral pregnancy risk factors: Results of a randomized clinical trial among high-risk pregnant African American women. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 1053–1061.
29.
KatzK. S.BlakeS. M.MilliganR. A.SharpsP. W.WhiteD. B.RodanM. F.MurrayK. B. (2008). The design, implementation and acceptability of an integrated intervention to address multiple behavioral and psychosocial risk factors among pregnant African American women. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 8, 22.
30.
KohnL. P.OdenT.MuñozR. F.RobinsonA.LeavittD. (2002). Adapted cognitive behavioral group therapy for depressed low-income African American women. Community Mental Health Journal, 38, 497–504.
31.
LawsonE. J.Rodgers-RoseL.RajaramS. (1999). The psychosocial context of Black women’s health. Health Care for Women International, 20, 279–289.
32.
LeashoreB.R. (1995). African Americans Overview. In
EdwardsR.L. (Ed.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Social Work (19th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 101–115). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
33.
LefcourtH. M. (1991). Locus of control. In RobinsonJ. P.ShaverP. R.WrightsmanL. S. (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 413–499). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
34.
LincolnK. D.ChattersL. M.TaylorR. J.JacksonJ. S. (2007). Profiles of depressive symptoms among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks. Social Science & Medicine, 65, 200–213.
35.
MalsonM. R. (1983). Black women’s sex roles: The social context for a new ideology. Journal of Social Issues, 39, 101–113.
36.
MaluccioA. N.WashitzS.LibassiM. F. (1998). Ecologically oriented, competence centered social work practice. In LeCroyC. W. (Ed.), Case studies in social work practice (2nd ed., pp. 27–41).
Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
37.
MaysV. M. (1985). Black women and stress: Utilization of self-help groups for stress reduction. Women & Therapy, 4, 67–79.
38.
McKeeM. D.ZayasL. H.FletcherJ.BoydR. C.NamS. H. (2006). Results of an intervention to reduce perinatal depression among low-income minority women in community primary care. Journal of Social Service Research, 32, 63–81.
39.
McKnight-EilyL. R.Presley-CantrellL.Elam-EvansL. D.ChapmanD. P.KaslowN. J.PerryG. S. (2009). Prevalence and correlates of current depressive symptomatology and lifetime diagnosis of depression in Black women. Womens Health Issues, 19, 243–252.
40.
McNairL. D. (1996). African American women and behavior therapy: Integrating theory, culture, and clinical practice. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 3, 337–349.
41.
MinorK.ElrodP. (1994). The effects of a probation intervention on juvenile offenders' self-concepts, loci of control, and perceptions of juvenile justice. Youth & Society, 5, 490–511.
42.
MirandaJ.CooperL. A. (2004). Disparities in care for depression among primary care patients. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 19, 120–126.
43.
MirandaJ.ChungJ. Y.GreenB. L.KrupnickJ.SiddiqueJ.RevickiD. A.BelinT. (2003). Treating depression in predominantly low-income young minority women: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290, 57–65.
44.
NapholzL. (2005). An effectiveness trial to increase psychological well-being and reduce stress among African American blue-collar working women. In OxingtonK. V. (Ed.), Psychology of stress (pp. 1–16). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.
45.
National Center for Health Statistics. (2007). Health, United States, 2007 with chartbook on trends in the health of Americans(Library of Congress Catalog Number 76–641496). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
46.
NeighborsH. W. (1997). The (mis)diagnosis of mental disorders in African Americans. African American Research Perspectives, 3, 1–11.
47.
Nuru-JeterA.DominguezT. P.HammondW. P.LeuJ.SkaffM.EgerterS.JonesC. P. (2009). It’s the skin you’re in: African American women talk about their experiences of racism. An exploratory study to develop measures of racism for birth outcome studies. Journal of Maternal and Child Health, 13, 29–39.
48.
Pack-BrownS. P.FlemingA. (2004). An Afrocentric approach to counseling groups with African Americans. In DeLucia-WaackJ.GerrityD.KalodnerC.RivaM. T. (Eds.), Handbook of group counseling and psychotherapy (pp. 183–199). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
49.
RadloffL. S. (1977). The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD): A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
50.
RandallE. J. (1994). Cultural relativism in cognitive therapy with disadvantaged African American women. Journal of Cognitive Therapy and Research: An International Quarterly, 8, 195–207.
51.
RotterJ. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, 609.
52.
ShinS. -M.ChowC.Camacho-GonsalvesT.LevyR. J.AllenI. E.LeffH. S. (2005). A meta-analytic review of racial-ethnic matching for African American and Caucasian American clients and clinicians. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 45–56.
53.
SnowdenL. R. (1999). African American service use for mental health problems. Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 303–313.
54.
SteerR. A.BeckA. T.BrownG. (1989). Sex differences on the revised Beck Depression Inventory for outpatients with affective disorders. Journal of Personality Assessment, 53, 693–702.
55.
SueD. W.SueD. (1990). Counseling the culturally different: Theory and practice. New York, NY: Wiley.
56.
TaylorR.ChattersL.TuckerM. B.LewisE. (1990). Developments in research on Black families: A decade review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 993–1014.
57.
ThomasS. A.Gonzalez-PrendesA. A. (2009). Powerlessness, anger and stress in African American women: Implications for physical and emotional health. Health Care for Women International, 30, 93–113.
58.
TownsendT. G.HawkinsS. R.BattsA. L. (2007). Stress and stress reduction among African American women: A brief report. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 28, 569–582.
59.
TylerF. B. (1978). Individual psychosocial competence: A personality configuration. Education & Psychological Measurement, 38, 309–323.
60.
TylerF. B. (1991). Psychosocial competence in developing countries. Psychology and Developing Societies, 3, 171–192.
61.
TylerF. B.BromeD. R.WilliamsJ. E. (1991). Ethnic validity, and psychotherapy: A psychosocial competence approach. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
62.
TylerF. B.PargamentK. I. (1981). Racial and personal factors and the complexities of competence oriented changes in a high school group counseling program. American Journal of Community Psychology, 9, 697–714.
63.
VazK. M. (2005). Reflecting team group therapy and its congruence with feminist principles: A focus on African American women. Women & Therapy, 28, 65–75.
64.
WeissmanM. M.BlandR. C.CaninoG. J.FaravelliC.GreenwaldS.HwuH. G.YehE. K. (1996). Cross-national epidemiology of major depression and bipolar disorder. Journal of the American Medical Association, 276, 293–299.
65.
WilliamsR. D. (2000). Race, stress, and mental health: Findings from the Commonwealth Minority Health Survey. In HogueC.HargravesM. A.CollinsK. S. (Eds.), Minority health in America: Findings and policy implication from the Commonwealth Fund Minority Health Survey (pp. 209–243). Baltimore, MD: Johns-Hopkins University Press.
