Ezemenari M. Obasi

An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of acculturative stress and ethnic identity to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation in college students. The SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale, Multi-Group Ethnic Identity Measure, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Suicide Scale were administered to 452 college students. The authors found that acculturative stress and ethnic identity moderated the depression-suicide ideation relationship for African American but not European American college students. Given that vulnerability toward suicidal thoughts is increased for African American college students who report symptoms of depression accompanied by either high-acculturative stress or poor group identity, these culturally relevant factors should be included in protocol for suicide risk assessment.

Maternal depression, stress and feeding styles: towards a framework for theory and research in child obesity

Against the background of rising rates of obesity in children and adults in the USA, and modest effect sizes for obesity interventions, the aim of the present narrative review paper is to extend the UNICEF care model to focus on childhood obesity and its associated risks with an emphasis on the emotional climate of the parent-child relationship within the family. Specifically, we extended the UNICEF model by applying the systems approach to childhood obesity and by combining previously unintegrated sets of literature across multiple disciplines including developmental psychology, clinical psychology and nutrition. Specifically, we modified the extended care model by explicitly integrating new linkages (i.e. parental feeding styles, stress, depression and mothers own eating behaviour) that have been found to be associated with the development of childrens eating behaviours and risk of childhood obesity. These new linkages are based on studies that were not incorporated into the original UNICEF model, but suggest important implications for childhood obesity. In all, this narrative review offers important advancements to the scientific understanding of familial influences on childrens eating behaviours and childhood obesity.

Academic Performance in African American Undergraduates: Effects of Cultural Mistrust, Educational Value, and Achievement Motivation

The current study examined achievement motivation, the value of education, cultural mistrust, and academic performance in 202 African American college students attending both Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and a Predominately White Institution (PWI). Results using hierarchical multiple regression established that the three predictor model accounts for 42.1% of the variance in academic performance. Additionally, the results indicated that a student’s value of education moderates the relationship between achievement motivation and academic performance. Implications for educators, administrators, and career counselors are presented.

Construction and validation of the Measurement of Acculturation Strategies for People of African Descent (MASPAD).

This paper describes the development of the Measurement of Acculturation Strategies for People of African Descent (MASPAD), a bidimensional instrument designed to assess acculturation strategies (i.e., Traditionalist, Integrationist, Assimilationist, and Marginalist). Two studies were conducted to describe the development of the MASPAD and to assess its psychometric properties. Data were collected from 367 African American participants in Atlanta, GA; Columbus, OH; Los Angeles; and New York City, NY. The MASPAD consistently produced scores with adequate reliability and independent raters provided initial evidence for face and content validity. Pearson correlation coefficients supported the purported orthogonality of the MASPAD subscales. The MASPAD was found to be a significant predictor of cultural worldview and values. The bidimensional model of acculturation theorized to exist in the MASPAD was supported with a confirmatory factor analysis on data collected from 831 participants. Future directions for this body of research are discussed.

Construction and Initial Validation of the Worldview Analysis Scale (WAS)

This study describes the development of the Worldview Analysis Scale (WAS), an instrument designed to assess the way in which people perceive, think, feel, and experience the world. Four studies were conducted to describe the scale development of the WAS and to assess its psychometric properties. Eight hundred sixteen African, African American, European, European American, and multiethnic participants served as the validation sample. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for seven subscales: materialistic universe, spiritual immortality, communalism, indigenous values, tangible realism, knowledge of self, and spiritualism. MANOVA analyses found evidence for cultural differences in worldview at the ethnic level of analysis. Results indicated favorable reliability, validity, and factor structure indices for the WAS. Applications of the WAS in culturally competent research, training, and psychotherapy are discussed.

The relationship between alcohol consumption, perceived stress, and CRHR1 genotype on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in rural African Americans

Objective: Rurally situated African Americans suffer from stress and drug-related health disparities. Unfortunately, research on potential mechanisms that underlie this public health problem have received limited focus in the scientific literature. This study investigated the effects of perceived stress, alcohol consumption, and genotype on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) Axis. Methods: A rural sample of African American emerging adults (n = 84) completed a battery of assessments and provided six samples of salivary cortisol at wakeup, 30 min post wakeup, 90 min post wakeup, 3:00 PM, 3:30 PM, and 4:30 PM. Results: Participants with a TT genotype of the CRHR1 (rs4792887) gene tended to produce the most basal cortisol throughout the day while participants with a CC genotype produced the least amount. Increased levels of perceived stress or alcohol consumption were associated with a blunted cortisol awakening response (CAR). Moreover, the CAR was obliterated for participants who reported both higher stress and alcohol consumption. Conclusion: Perceived stress and alcohol consumption had a deleterious effect on the HPA-Axis. Furthermore, genotype predicted level of cortisol production throughout the day. These findings support the need to further investigate the relationship between stress dysregulation, drug-use vulnerability, and associated health disparities that affect this community.

Catecholamine levels and delay discounting forecast drug use among African American youths.

AIMS To test hypotheses about the contributions of the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine [which serve as biological markers of life stress through sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation], delay discounting and their interaction to the prediction of drug use among young African American adults. DESIGN A 1-year prospective study that involved assessment of SNS activity and collection of self-report data involving delay discounting and drug use. SETTING Rural communities in the southeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS A total of 456 African Americans who were 19 years of age at the beginning of the study. MEASUREMENTS At age 19, participants provided overnight urine voids that were assayed for epinephrine and norepinephrine. Participants were also assessed for hyperbolic temporal discounting functions (k) and drug use. At age 20, the participants again reported their drug use. FINDINGS Linear regression analyses revealed that (i) catecholamine levels at age 19 forecast increases in drug use [B = 0.087, P < 0.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.025, 0.148] and (ii) among young men, catecholamine levels interacted positively with delay discounting to forecast increases in drug use (simple slope = 0.113, P < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.074, 0.152). CONCLUSIONS Higher urinary catecholamine concentrations in their adulthood predict higher levels of drug use a year later among young African American men in the United States who engage in high, but not low, levels of delay discounting.

Neuroimaging evidence for social rank theory.

Recent advances in imaging have enabled the study of social rank, which refers generally to an individual’s social standing as either dominant or subordinate in a group, in relation to brain structure and function. From an evolutionary perspective, the mind is a modular structure from which various psychological traits and processes evolved in order to promote the success of the individual and the species. Gilbert (2000) argues that social rank theory explains responses reflecting such a system, which appears to have functional underpinnings linking limbic, prefrontal, and striatal structures (Levitan et al., 2000). Researchers argue that this evolved system for responding to status information during social exchanges serves to facilitate cohesion in social rank encounters; namely, competition and/or cooperation for access to resources (Gilbert, 2000; Levitan et al., 2000). Several questions emerge from this evolutionary perspective when considered in the context of social rank: How does social rank manifest behaviorally in humans? What environmental conditions might change how the brain uses rank to navigate social landscapes successfully? Furthermore, what are the underlying neural processes associated with these evolved systems? The present discussion briefly discusses social rank as a theoretical construct, explores the behavioral manifestations of social rank, and reviews the neuroimaging support for social rank theory as a conceptual framework in which neural processes reflect an evolved psychological process. While a wealth of research provides conceptual support for this process in the animal model (Blanchard et al., 2001; Sapolsky, 2005; Morrison et al., 2011), here we review recent evidence for the neural basis of social rank in humans.

The cost of minority stress: Risky alcohol use and coping-motivated drinking behavior in African American college students

ABSTRACT A motivational drinking framework is utilized to understand the relationship between minority stressors (e.g., race-related stress and acculturative stress) and alcohol use behaviors (risky alcohol use and coping-motivated drinking) among a large sample of Black American college students. Six hundred forty-nine Black college students from 8 colleges and universities in the United States were recruited as part of a large, multiwave, cross-sectional study investigating the stress and coping experiences of Black emerging adults. Results from the current investigation provide support for the independent contributions of acculturative stress and race-related stress to the risky alcohol use behavior of Black college students, while acculturative stress significantly predicted coping-motivated drinking behaviors in the sample. Findings underscore the need to better understand the unique relationships between minority stress and risky alcohol use behaviors of Black college students, namely, relationships not shared by their nonminority peers that increase their risk of problem drinking.

Perceived distress tolerance accounts for the covariance between discrimination experiences and anxiety symptoms among sexual minority adults

Sexual orientation-related discrimination experiences have been implicated in elevated rates of anxiety symptoms within sexual minority groups. Theory suggests that chronic discrimination experiences may dampen the ability to tolerate distress, increasing vulnerability for anxiety. This study examined the role of distress tolerance, or the capacity to withstand negative emotions, as a construct underlying associations between discriminatory experiences and anxiety among sexual minority adults. Participants (N=119;Mage=36.4±14.8; 50% cisgender male, 31% cisgender female, 19% transgender; 37% non-Latino white) were recruited from Houston, Texas. Measures administered included the Heterosexist Harassment, Rejection, and Discrimination Scale (discrimination experiences), Distress Tolerance Scale (distress tolerance), and the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (anxiety). The association of discrimination experiences and anxiety through distress tolerance was assessed using covariate-adjusted mediation modeling. Results indicated that sexual orientation-related discrimination experiences were significantly and positively associated with anxiety and that this association was mediated through lower distress tolerance. Significant indirect effects were specific to cognitive (versus somatic) anxiety symptoms. Results suggest that distress tolerance may be an explanatory mechanism in the association between discriminatory experiences and cognitive symptoms of anxiety and a potentially relevant target within clinical interventions to address anxiety-related health disparities among sexual minority adults. However, more sophisticated designs are needed to delineate causal associations.