W. LaVome Robinson

Poverty and Depressed Mood Among Urban African-American Adolescents: A Family Stress Perspective

We examined the role of family stress as a mediator of the relationship between poverty and depressed mood among 1,704 low-income, inner-city African- American adolescents. Nearly half of participants (47%) reported clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Being female, reporting higher levels of family stress, and scoring higher on a poverty index were significantly associated with increased reports of depressed mood. Family stress significantly mediated the relationship between poverty and adolescent depressed mood, explaining 50% of the total effect. Sex-specific analyses revealed that this relationship only held for females, and there was no direct relationship between poverty and depressed mood for males. Results lend further support to family stress theory, although they suggest that the model may be more relevant for females than males. Implications for community-based preventive intervention and social policy are discussed.

Attitudes of African-American Baptist ministers toward AIDS

Results from a survey of the attitudes of African-American Baptist ministers (N = 92) toward acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) revealed that most of the clergy did not perceive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as being a significant risk to their communities. Ministers who had previous HIV prevention/education training felt more comfortable counseling a person with AIDS and were more likely to sponsor workshops and training sessions for their members than were ministers who had not had previous HIV training. Ministers who held professional or college degrees were more likely to not believe that AIDS was a punishment by God and that people with AIDS deserved their illness than were their counterparts with less formal education. Older ministers tended to hold more pejorative attitudes toward homosexuals, HIV, and individuals infected with the virus than did their younger peers.

12-step participation among dually-diagnosed individuals: A review of individual and contextual factors

The frequent co-occurrence of substance abuse disorders along with psychiatric disorders creates a number of complexities and needs in terms of long-term treatment for individuals. 12-step groups might provide unique mechanisms by which dually-diagnosed individuals can maintain their abstinence and improve their psychological functioning. This paper reviews the literature on outpatient community 12-step participation among dually-diagnosed individuals, and also focuses on individual factors that may interact with treatment: homelessness, legal status, and ethnicity. A total of 59 articles was included in the review, with an emphasis on these individual factors and findings regarding mechanisms of action. Overall, findings from the studies reviewed suggest a general benefit of 12-step participation across these individual factors and some potential for dual-focus 12-step programs for dually-diagnosed individuals via social support and self-efficacy. However, methodological limitations and lack of research in the area of ethnicity limited some of the conclusions that can be made. Suggestions for further research are discussed.

Sexual Fantasies, Attitudes and Behavior as a Function of Race, Gender and Religiosity

Race, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and religiosity factors were examined as influence of sexual fantasies and their behavioral expression. Four groups of fifty undergraduate college students were administered Kilpatricks Sexual Attitude and Behavior Survey (SABS): 1) black male; 2) black female; 3) white male; and 4) white female. A reliability estimate for the SABS was also obtained indicating adequacy for the scale. Results indicated significant differences between the racial groups for the Male Behavior, Female Fantasy, and Personal Fantasy attitudinal measures. Low church attenders were shown to be more sexually permissive than high church attenders. Also, some measures indicated significant sex differences, but no significant effect was found for SES in the ANOVAs. Interestingly, the only significant interactions (disordinal) revealed by the ANOVAs were race x religiosity. For all groups except the black female group, attitudes were found to be moderately correlated with behavior. Inconsistent with previous findings, white males were generally the most permissive group.

Depressive symptoms, gender, and sexual risk behavior among African-American adolescents: implications for prevention and intervention.

Abstract African-American youths are disproportionately affected by deleterious outcomes associated with risky sexual activity. Arguably, females are at greater risk for these adverse outcomes due to physiological and emotional risk factors, such as depression. The current study examines the relationship between depressive symptomology and sexual risk behavior within a sample of 1,970 innercity, economically disadvantaged African-American adolescents in grades nine and eleven. The findings of this study support a relationship between sexual risk behavior and depressive symptomology for the sample, such that as depressive symptomology increases so does sexual risk behavior. Furthermore, an interaction for gender was found, with depressive symptomology being a stronger predictor of sexual risk behavior for African-American females as compared to African-American males. Implications of these findings for the design of prevention programs specifically tailored to African-American adolescent women are discussed.

Multiculturalism and Primary Prevention: Toward a New Primary Prevention Culture

The goals of this Special Issue are to highlight the following three themes: culturally affirmative conceptualizations of issues related to prevention; the selection of ecologically valid variables from the perspective of the target population; and a transactional perspective that acknowledges personal and contextual influences, including those of the researcher. Examples from contributors highlight ways in which the evolving culture of primary prevention incorporates multiculturalism. Other issues covered include the role of diverse worldviews in bounding research and programmatic objectives, the need to preserve cultural integrity in cross-cultural collaboration, practicalities of multicultural research, and ethical implications.

Burgeoning Directions for the Prevention of Youth Violence

Despite focused efforts toward the prevention of youth violence within the United States, it continues to adversely affect the lives of children and families within our communities and society at large. The articles in this issue address risk and protective factors that affect violence among urban youth to inform prevention and treatment. Pathways to youth violence are complex and may begin early. Prevention efforts in school, family, and community settings that address risk and protective factors within a socially, culturally, and ecologically valid context early in human development are crucial. While challenges remain for the prevention of youth violence, research suggests opportunities to improve our efforts. Federal agency initiatives in partnership with communities are currently underway to increase the knowledge base and advance prevention of youth violence among diverse populations.

Assertiveness and cognitive processing in interpersonal situations

This study examined social skills components that precede the delivery of a skilled overt interpersonal response. Using a cognitive-behavioral systems approach to assertiveness, a task analysis of how women receive and process information in interpersonal situations requiring an assertive response to men was performed. Forty women were assigned to high- or low-assertive groups based on their Rathus Assertiveness Schedule scores. In small group sessions, each woman viewed four videotaped problem situations requiring an assertive response to both pleasant and angry males. After viewing each scene, each woman completed three questionnaires: (a) receiving information, (b) processing-generation of alternatives and decision making, and (c) processing-generation of consequences. High- and low-assertive participants were found to differ in their evaluation of consequences, for response options, particularly how a male would likely to behave to them. High-assertive participants were judged to evaluate more correctly than low-assertive participants the likely behavior of males if response options were implemented. All participants generated more complex alternatives and more assertive responses to situations involving an angry male as compared to a pleasant male. No differences were found between groups in their ability to receive information accurately. Correlational results were supportive of a cognitive-behavioral systems approach of assertion, that is, the emission of a skilled response depends on a chain of preceding responses.

Professional Black Men and Women: Attainment of Terminal Academic Degrees

Family background and personality characteristics of black professionals who held doctorates were examined for possible commonalities and sex differences. 30 black men and 34 black women from a variety of professional fields participated in this mail survey which included demographic items and personality scales. The majority of the sample had educated mothers who were employed during their childhood. In addition, the professionals held traditional religious affiliations, had small numbers of children, and their spouses typically were college graduates. The professionals were highly motivated and self-oriented individuals who were tolerant of differences in moral and personal values. Women were even less conventional than men. The women were likely to be unmarried and childless; they also had parents with more education. In general, however, with respect to personality measures, few differences existed between the men and women.

Reducing Stress and Preventing Anxiety in African American Adolescents: A Culturally- Grounded Approach.

Evidenced-based and culturally adapted stress-reduction interventions for urban African American adolescents who are at risk for anxiety and other problems related to stress are needed. This study presents intervention components and preliminary outcome findings of a culturally adapted stress-reduction intervention for urban African American adolescents. Preliminary findings support the efficacy of the intervention to reduce anxiety and enhance general cognitive competencies, such as coping strategies, self-efficacy, and positive thinking, among participants, in comparison to controls. Clinical implications of the stress-reduction intervention for the prevention of psychopathology, particularly among African American adolescents, are discussed.