Psychological Well-Being and the Metabolic Syndrome in African and Caucasian Women in South Africa

This study explored the association between comprehensive psychological well-being and the metabolic syndrome (MS), as well as whether women without MS markers differ significantly from women with MS (three or more markers) on specific facets of psychological well-being. African (N=102) and Caucasian (N=115) women completed self-report questionnaires on psychological well-being, and biological markers for MS were determined. Results indicated a significant association between comprehensive psychological well-being and the MS in Caucasian women, but not in the case of African women. Caucasian women without MS had higher levels of perceived support from friends and family, environmental mastery, purpose in life, sense of coherence, affect balance and positive relationships than those with MS. African women without MS had higher levels of positive relationships and an optimistic explanatory style, but lower levels of perceived support from family. Further research is indicated.     

The nature of quality of life in residential care facilities: the case of White older South Africans

This study describes the nature of quality of life (QoL) from the perspective of older South Africans (n?=?41) in residential care facilities (female =?75%; age range 62–95 years). The residents participated in individual in-depth interviews and focus groups. They also set down their narrative reflections on their QoL in journals. Data were analysed by means of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings reveal the resident older South Africans regard QoL as a spiritually informed worldview of life events, coping with challenges and being mindful of others. The residents perceived QoL to include proximity and quality and reciprocity with others. QoL among older people is context and people specific.     

Womanist Therapy with African American Women with Disabilities

Abstract

African American women are at increased risk for disabilities. There is very little information available, however, regarding psychological interventions with African American women with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to discuss psychological intervention in working with African American women with acquired disabilities from a womanist perspective. Themes and interventions will be discussed. Recommendations for working with African American women with disabilities in a therapeutic context will be offered.     

Religiosity, Spirituality, and the Subjective Quality of African American Men's Friendships: An Exploratory Study

The present study fills a crucial gap in literature surrounding the lives of African American men by exploring factors that shape the quality of these men's friendships. Drawing on data from a sample of 171 African American men, the study examines the relative utility of subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, advice exchange, and affective sharing as predictors of the level of perceived support from male and female friends. Findings reveal age differences in subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, and in level of advice and affective exchange in men's same-sex as well as cross-sex friendships. Age differences emerged in men's perceptions of the supportiveness of their friendships with women but not with men. Age was not a predictor of perceived supportiveness of same-sex or cross-sex friendships. Subjective religiosity did not predict support in same-sex or cross-sex friendships. Subjective spirituality positively predicted perceived support in men's same-sex friendships but not in cross-sex friendships. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Childhood Maltreatment and PTSD: Spiritual Well-Being and Intimate Partner Violence as Mediators

Childhood maltreatment places individuals, including African American women who are undereducated and economically disadvantaged, at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Participants were 192 African American women with a history in the prior year of both a suicide attempt and intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure. They were recruited from a public hospital that provides medical and mental health treatment to mostly low-income patients. A simple mediator model was used to examine if (a) existential well-being (sense of purpose) or religious well-being (relationship with God) mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and adult PTSD symptoms. Sequential multiple mediator models determined if physical and nonphysical IPV enhanced our understanding of the mediational association among the aforementioned variables. Findings suggest that existential well-being mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and adult PTSD symptoms in a simple mediator model, and existential well-being and recent nonphysical IPV served as sequential multiple mediators of this link. However, religious well-being and physical IPV were not significant mediators. Findings underscore the importance of enhancing existential well-being in the treatment of suicidal African American women with a history of childhood maltreatment and IPV.     

“Go Near and Join Thyself to This Chariot…”: African Pneumatic Movements and Transformational Discipleship

Christian religious innovation has been ongoing in Africa since the early 20th century. It started with indigenous charismatic prophets calling on people to turn over their old deities and submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. The ministries of these itinerant prophets led to mass conversions culminating in the formation of what became known as the African independent/instituted/initiated churches (AICs). For the best part of the 20th century the AICs defined what counted as Christian in an African indigenous sense. The argument of this article is that the acronym AICs has, since the closing decades of the 20th century, acquired a much broader meaning to include the new Pentecostal/charismatic movements and churches that have burgeoned across the continent. Their trademarks include youthful urban‐centred congregations, media‐driven ministries, and the preaching of a gospel of prosperity. The contributions of both the classical AICs and the contemporary Pentecostals to African Christianity have been phenomenal. As Christian churches, however, we ought to evaluate them not just in terms of numerical or sociological impact, but most especially in terms of transformational discipleship. There is much to celebrate in transformational discipleship as far as the ministries of these African Reformation movements are concerned, but there as yet remain areas of concern that need to be dealt with for the optimization of Christian impact in Africa.     

Social support,psychological vulnerability,and HIV risk among African American men who have sex with men

Previous research has suggested a need to understand the social-psychological factors contributing to HIV risk among African American men who have sex with men (MSM). We conducted individual in-depth interviews with 34 adult African American MSM to examine their personal experiences about: (i) sources of social support, (ii) psychological responses to the presence or absence of social support and (iii) influences of social support on sexual behaviours. The majority of participants described limited positive encouragement and lack of emotional support from family, as well as few meaningful personal relationships. Feelings of isolation and mistrust about personal relationships led many participants to avoid emotional intimacy and seek physical intimacy through sexual encounters. Findings highlight a need for multilevel interventions that enhance social support networks and address the social-psychological, emotional and interpersonal factors that contribute to HIV risk among African American MSM.     

Influence of televised modeling and verbalization on children's delay of gratification

Voluntary delay of gratification in 9-year-old children was assessed 4 weeks prior to, immediately after, and 4 weeks subsequent to exposure to one of four televized films. The modeling group observed an adult female model exemplify high-delay behavior. The persuasion group observed the model verbalize good reasons for waiting. The persuasion-modeling group observed the model exemplify high-delay behavior and verbalize reasons for waiting. Subjects in each of the treatment groups emitted more delay choices on the posttest than control group subjects who observed the model exhibit neutral behavior. The greatest magnitude of change occurred when modeling and persuasive cues were combined. Treatment effects were still in evidence for the modeling and the persuasion-modeling groups after a period of 4 weeks.     

Cultural specificity of support sources,correlates and contexts: Three studies of African-American and Caucasian youth

Levels and correlates of parental support, peer support, partner support, and/or spiritual support among African American and Caucasian youth were examined in three contexts: adolescent pregnancy (Study 1), first year of college (Study 2), and adolescence and young adulthood (ages 15–29; Study 3). Partially consistent with a cultural specificity perspective, in different contexts different support sources were higher in level and/or more strongly related to adjustment for one ethnic group than the other. Among pregnant adolescents, levels of spiritual support were higher for African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, peer support was positively related to well-being only for African Americans whereas partner support was positively related to well-being only for Caucasians. Among college freshmen, family support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment for African Americans than Caucasians; conversely, peer support was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment among Caucasians. Among 15 to 29-year-olds, levels of parental support and spiritual support were higher among African Americans than Caucasians; additionally, spiritual support was positively related to self-esteem for African Americans but not for Caucasians. Implications and limitations of the research are discussed. The third study was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant RO1 MH40963. We thank Monica Greene, Shea Lyda, Wendy Stevenson, and the many undergraduate students who contributed to the three research projects. We also acknowledge the very thoughtful and helpful comments of the anonymous reviewers and the editor, Edison Trickett.