Date of Conferral
2023
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Human Services
Advisor
Kelly Chermack
Abstract
Few studies have studied how community-based services (CBS) work to mitigate the strong Black woman image (SBWI) coping mechanism for Black women to improve their mental health. The purpose of this generic, qualitative study was to understand the experiences of 10 African American women, ages 18 and older, who identified with the SBWI and had received CBS to address their stress-related coping strategies. Transactional theory of coping with stress and the SBWI approach was used as the framework to help explain how stress in terms of the SBWI impacted the response of the African American women within their environment. Data were analyzed and produced using Adu’s step-by-step Microsoft Word method to identify codes that produced eight emerging themes: exhibiting characteristics of the SBWI is a coping mechanism, the use of generational and historical factors as additional coping mechanisms. Coping methods have both positive and negative health implications. There are some benefits evident with using SBWI as a coping mechanism, and also liabilities with using elements of SBWI as a coping mechanism. Women also use CBS as coping mechanisms, CBS as a coping method provides some benefits, and the use of CBS comes with potential liabilities. This study provides better understanding of how African American women cope with stress-related problem. The findings may develop an awareness of the African American women’s coping style to improve their quality of life and promote the quality of care within the human and social service profession.
Recommended Citation
Procks, DeLisa V., "African American Women’s Experiences Coping with Stress Through Community-Based Services" (2023). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 12187.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/12187
