Browsing by Author "Odafe, Mary O."

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Maladaptive Perfectionism, Expressive Suppression, and Familism Among Young Adult Children of Immigrants: Risk or Resilience to Suicide Ideation?
(2020-05) Odafe, Mary O.; Walker, Rheeda L.; Alfano, Candice A.; Carmack, Chakema C.; Hunter, Carla Desi-Ann
Objectives: Children of immigrants (i.e., born in the U.S. to immigrant parents or foreign-born who migrated to the U.S. during childhood) constitute one quarter of the U.S. population. Ethnic minority individuals across this generational status consistently show greater vulnerability to suicide than their foreign-born parents, suggesting the presence of risk factors that are unique to the social and cultural context of being raised in the U.S. Suicide is a leading cause of death among young adults in the general population, yet little is known about potential risk factors unique to the cultural contexts of young adult children of immigrants. In the current study, maladaptive perfectionism, expressive suppression, and attitudinal familism are examined as culturally-relevant psychosocial predictors of suicide ideation in Asian, African/Black Caribbean, and Hispanic/Latinx young adult children of immigrants. Method: University and community-based young adults (1.5 and 2nd generation American; N = 376) completed measures of maladaptive perfectionism, expressive suppression, attitudinal familism, suicide ideation, depressive symptoms, and demographic variables. Results: Two moderated mediation analyses were initially conducted. Expressive suppression (M) was not a significant mediator of maladaptive perfectionism (X) and suicide ideation (Y). Further, this association did not vary by levels of familism – Familial Honor (W1) and Subjugation of Self for Family (W2). However, a third moderated mediation analysis revealed that maladaptive perfectionism, when entered as a mediator (M), accounted for the association of expressive suppression (X) and suicide ideation (Y). Further, this association varied by participant race/ethnicity (W) with Asian and African/Black Caribbean participants showing a significantly larger mediation effect than Hispanic/Latinx participants. Predictors remained significant above and beyond the potentially confounding effects of depressive symptoms, age, gender, and education level. The overall model containing expressive suppression, maladaptive perfectionism, participant race/ethnicity, and covariate variables was significant (R2=0.263, df = 6, 349, F = 20.733, p <.001) and accounted for 26% of the variance in suicide ideation. Conclusions: For young adult children of immigrants who endorse maladaptive perfectionism, suppressive coping strategies may reinforce stringent perfectionist beliefs and ultimately contribute to suicide vulnerability. This association may be strongest for Asian and African/Black Caribbean young adults, relative to Hispanic/Latinx young adults. More research is needed to understand racial/ethnic differences and define cultural protective factors that may promote resilience to suicide and overall psychological well-being among young adult children of immigrants.
Race-Related Stress and Hopelessness in African Americans: Moderating Role of Social Support
(2016-08) Odafe, Mary O.; Walker, Rheeda L.; Babcock, Julia C.; Reitzel, Lorraine R.
The disparaging mental health outcomes associated with racial discrimination are well documented in the scientific literature. Despite strong links to severe mental illness, hopelessness is largely overlooked as a consequence of discrimination in existing empirical research. Building upon the available literature, the current study was intended to explore the association of race-related stress and hopelessness in African American adults. Utilizing a stress, appraisal, and coping framework, multiple dimensions of social support were examined as plausible protective factors against the negative effects of race-related stress. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the main and interactive effects of race-related stress and various dimensions of social support (appraisal, belonging, and self-esteem) in relation to reported symptoms of hopelessness. The three dimensions of perceived social support were significantly associated with self-reported symptoms of hopelessness, with self-esteem social support emerging as the strongest predictor. The interactive effects of race-related stress and social support were non-significant, though the interaction of self-esteem social support and race-related stress approached significance. Findings suggest the need for consideration of additional culturally-relevant factors that may serve to mitigate the effects of race-related stress among African Americans. Additionally, having a collective sense of moral for one’s race group (via self-esteem social support) may promote resilience in the face of discrimination, though more work is needed to confirm this association. Implications of the current findings, limitations, and directions for future investigation are discussed.
Race-related stress and hopelessness in community-based African American adults: Moderating role of social support
(Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2017-10) Odafe, Mary O.; Salami, Temilola K.; Walker, Rheeda L.
Objectives: The mental health outcomes associated with racial discrimination are well documented in scientific literature. Despite strong links to mental illness, hopelessness is largely overlooked as a consequence of discrimination in empirical research. The current study examined the association of race-related stress and hopelessness in a community sample of African American adults. Utilizing a risk-resilience framework, we examined multiple dimensions of social support as plausible protective factors against the negative effects of race-related stress. Method: Self-report measures of race-related stress (Index of Race Related Stress—Brief; Utsey & Ponterotto, 1996), hopelessness (Beck Hopelessness Scale; Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974), and social support (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983) were completed by a sample of African American adults (N = 243; mean age = 35.89 years). Results: Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the main and interactive effects of race-related stress and three dimensions of social support (appraisal, belonging, and self-esteem) in relation to hopelessness ratings. All dimensions of social support were associated with self-reported hopelessness, with the self-esteem dimension emerging as the strongest predictor. Though self-esteem social support buffered the role of race-related stress on self-reported hopelessness, appraisal and belonging support did not. Conclusions: Individual and collective morale for one’s racial group (via self-esteem social support) may be especially valuable for African Americans who face racial discrimination. Findings highlight the importance of culturally relevant factors that may ameliorate the effects of race-related stress.