Life Satisfaction and Symptoms of Mental Disorder Among Older African American Public Housing Residents

This study examines life satisfaction and symptoms of mental disorder in a sample of 831 older African American residents of urban public housing developments. Symptoms of mental disorder included measures of emotional distress, alcohol-related problems, and cognitive impairment. Subjects reporting less life satisfaction had significantly greater emotional distress. Neither lifetime alcohol-related problems nor cognitive impairment were significantly related to life satisfaction. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that emotional distress subscales accounted for most of the explained variance in life satisfaction. Social dysfunction was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, accounting for 17% of the variance. Having a confidant, instrumental social support, religious support, or being female also contributed to the explained variance in life satisfaction.     

Primary care decision making in response to psychological complaints: the influence of patient race

Eighteen general practitioners indicated diagnostic and treatment decisions in response to patient vignettes. Results indicated that White patients were more likely to be correctly diagnosed as having anxiety than any other complaint. Asians were just as likely to receive a physical diagnosis as they were to receive one of anxiety. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving payment of traffic fines with financial incentives: Discounts vs. penalties

The effective enforcement of traffic laws is critical for improved road safety outcomes. Decisions to follow traffic rules and pay fines are influenced by formal institutions (e.g. laws, court summons, and fines) as well as informal institutions (e.g. norms and aspects of culture). Formal and informal institutions create incentives that should be designed to steer individuals’ behaviour towards desired outcomes. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that the institutions to deal with traffic violations in South Africa currently create effective incentives. This paper discusses the findings of a controlled laboratory experiment, conducted with a sample of university students, that tested the efficacy of different financial incentives that may influence the payment of traffic fines. An early payment discount was compared to a late payment penalty (used in other countries, for example, some states in the USA), and to the absence of any incentives. Furthermore, we examined whether the willingness to settle fines is sensitive to the likelihood of detection by the authorities. We found that introducing financial incentives significantly increases voluntary payment of fines, irrespective of whether immediate payment is encouraged with a discount or late payment is discouraged with a surcharge. In addition, subjects are more sensitive to the likelihood of detection when financial incentives are present.     

Race and the gift of lament

A close look at historical narratives can help us understand how intractable racial injustice is, both in society and in the church. Progress toward racial equity requires us to recognize ourselves as actors in history, and also as those influenced by and acted upon by the forces of history. In addition, lament can help us move toward the theological work of repentance. This article is adapted from The Gift of Lament: Moving from Diversity to Racial Equity in the ELCA, 2018 MDiv Thesis, Wartburg Theological Seminary. Portions of this article were also presented at the June 2019 Convocation of Teaching Theologians.     

Demographics,Stigma, and Religious Coping and Christian African Americans' Help Seeking

This study investigated the relationship between demographic characteristics, mental health treatment stigma, religious coping, and help seeking among a sample of 488 Christian African Americans. The results indicated that religious coping, both negative and positive, accounted for a significant portion of variance and explained trends in lifetime counseling attendance above and beyond that explained by demographic characteristics and mental health treatment stigma variables.     

African American Women's Substance Use Recovery Experiences: A Phenomenological Inquiry

We examined the lived substance use recovery experiences of eight African American women. Specifically, in this study, we examined how participants were able to achieve sustained recovery without the aid of substance use treatment. Using transcendental phenomenological analysis, we found that participants used four components of recovery capital: family, spirituality, religion, and the Black Church. This study has important relevance to working with African American women in substance use recovery.     

Preparing for racial microaggressions: The role of cognition and emotion in the proactive coping process of African American college students

Traditionally, conceptual models of racial stressors (including racial microaggressions) have characterized the reactive experiences of African Americans, particularly identifying how African Americans cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally respond to racial stress. The current study extends beyond the reactive coping experience and identifies nuances in the anticipatory and preparatory coping processes associated with racial microaggressions. Methods: 58 African American college students participated in a stress induction condition that exposed them to racial microinsults and prompted anticipatory concerns of further exposure to racial stress while completing a task with a racially insensitive peer. Following exposure to the stress induction condition, participants completed self-report questionnaires about their anticipatory thoughts, current affect, and proactive coping behaviors. Results: Threat-oriented thinking and negative affect were experienced in anticipation of racial discrimination; however, the endorsement of challenge-oriented thinking and positive affect were better predictors of how the current sample planned to use proactive coping behaviors to manage the anticipated racial stress. Implications: The current findings expand the racial stress coping narrative by capturing how the expression of optimism, perceived control, self-confidence, goal attainability, and positive emotion in anticipation of racial stress increases one's intention to implement coping strategies to minimize the impact of racial stress on task completion. Such findings provide cognitive and emotional targets for assessment when attempting to understand how African Americans are preparing themselves to manage anticipated racial stressors.     

The Cultural Closet: The South Asian American Experience of Keeping Romantic Relationships Secret

Many South Asian Americans face challenges when they are in romantic relationships outside of their racial, ethnic, or religious group. Because of values associated with dating and marriage, one challenge is disclosing the relationship to family. South Asian Americans often hide their relationships, and we propose that this experience has parallels to the closet for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. In this article, we name this experience the “cultural closet” and discuss the associated theory, context, consequences, and counseling implications. Muchos americanos surasiáticos afrontan desafíos cuando se encuentran en relaciones amorosas fuera de su grupo racial, étnico o religioso. Uno de los desafíos es revelar la relación a su familia, a causa de los valores asociados con las citas y el matrimonio. Con frecuencia, los americanos surasiáticos ocultan sus relaciones, y proponemos que esta experiencia tiene correspondencias con el armario para personas lesbianas, gais, bisexuales, transexuales y queer. En este artículo, denominamos esta experiencia el “armario cultural” y discutimos la teoría, el contexto, las consecuencias y las implicaciones para la consejería asociadas.