Browsing by Author "Salami, Temilola K."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

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.
Religious coping style and cultural worldview are associated with suicide ideation among African American adults
(Archives of Suicide Research, 03/01/17) Walker, Rheeda L.; Salami, Temilola K.; Cater, Sierra E.; Flowers, Kelci C.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether specific religious coping styles and cultural worldview would be associated with thoughts of suicide given higher levels of stress in a community-based sample of African American adults. African American men and women (n = 134) completed measures of religious coping, cultural worldview, stressful life events, depression symptoms, and suicide ideation. Higher ratings of suicide ideation were observed for African Americans who endorsed a more self-directing religious coping style. The self-directing religious coping was more frequently endorsed by participants who identified with a more Eurocentric cultural worldview that espouses an individualist philosophy. Together, these findings provide some insight to how religious coping and culture are related to suicide vulnerability for African Americans who are not in clinical care.
Socioeconomic status and symptoms of depression and anxiety in African American college students: The mediating role of hopelessness
(Journal of Black Psychology, 04/25/13) Salami, Temilola K.; Walker, Rheeda L.
Factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and hopelessness, a dimension of cognitive vulnerability, have been associated with the onset of depression and anxiety pathology in primarily European American study samples. The purpose of this brief article was to examine a main effect of SES and mediating effect of hopelessness in relation to acute symptoms of depression and anxiety in African American college students. Vulnerability-stress theories suggest that cognitively vulnerable individuals are more likely to develop depressive symptoms than individuals without cognitive vulnerabilities. Participants were 133 African American college students who completed self-report measures of hopelessness and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Results revealed that the relationship between participants’ SES and participants’ symptoms of depression was partially mediated by self-reported hopelessness. The relationship between participants’ SES and anxiety symptoms was fully mediated by their level of hopelessness. However, the direction of the findings was unexpected in that higher SES was associated with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety and also increased hopelessness. Future research and considerations for intervention are briefly discussed.