Journal of Black Psychology

The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of enculturation and racial identity in the prediction of body dissatisfaction and weight preoccupation in a sample of African American women. Participants consisted of 278 African American female college students enrolled in a large Midwestern university who completed a racial identity measure, an African American enculturation measure, and body dissatisfaction measures. Simultaneous regression results suggested that preencounter self-hatred attitudes were the only racial identity dimension to significantly predict body dissatisfaction. In addition, the level of enculturation significantly predicted body dissatisfaction, suggesting that African American women who were highly enculturated experienced greater body dissatisfaction. Subsequent mediational analyses found that body mass index fully mediated the relationship between enculturation and body dissatisfaction for African American women. Greater enculturation was associated with a higher body mass index, which in turn predicted greater overweight preoccupation. Study implications are discussed.

Diabetes and heart disease disproportionately burden African Americans, who tend to have worse nutritional intake than Whites. Many Black churches are influential institutions in the Black community, with potential to assist with promotion of healthy eating behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine intention to eat a healthy diet and dietary behaviors among church-affiliated African Americans. It was hypothesized that TPB constructs would positively predict intention to eat a healthy diet and that intention to eat a healthy diet would be a predictor of fat and fruit and vegetable intake. It was also hypothesized that control beliefs would predict reduced fat intake and increased fruit and vegetable intake. Path analyses indicated behavioral, normative, and control beliefs were predictive of intention to eat a healthy diet. Intention to eat healthy was a significant predictor of dietary intake behaviors. These findings provide support for the use of the TPB in examining diet among church-affiliated African Americans. This study represents an opportunity to inform dietary interventions for the African American faith community.

Based on historical literature, Black Americans have persisted through centuries of oppression in North America. To survive, they retained Africultural values and adopted group-specific practices. Black cultural values and practices can potentially, if bolstered, increase psychosocial health in this population. In the current study, we examined specific Black values and practices and their collective ability to predict psychosocial health. In a sample 486 Black, middle-class, American adults with a mean age of 31 years, we used structural equation modeling to test a first- and a second-order measurement model, as well as a structural model. We hypothesized that health-promoting aspects of Black racial identity (e.g., racial centrality), racial socialization (e.g., cultural socialization), and racism-related coping (e.g., confrontation), as well as higher levels of communalism and spirituality would indicate one latent factor, Black Cultural Strength. Furthermore, we hypothesized that Black Cultural Strength would be predictive of psychosocial health. After slight model modifications, we found an acceptable fit for the data. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed.