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Culturally informed shift-&-persist: A higher-order factor model and prospective associations with discrimination and depressive symptoms
Abstract
Objectives:
Based on the conceptual overlap between shift-&-persist (S&P) and culturally based strategies (critical civic engagement [CCE] and spiritually based coping), this study tests whether associations between these three previously disparate strategies are attributable to the existence of a higher-order coping construct: culturally informed S&P.
Methods:
Among 364 diverse minoritized youth (Mage = 18.79, 85.2% female), we tested for the existence of this higher-order factor through confirmatory factor analysis.
Results:
We found theoretical and empirical support for the existence of a higher-order factor structure and for our higher-order factor-culturally informed S&P. Culturally informed S&P promotes fewer depressive symptoms as a main effect in addition to completely protecting against the negative impact of discrimination on depressive symptoms when culturally informed S&P is high.
Conclusions:
The current study illustrates relations between three previously distinct coping strategies through their association with culturally informed S&P. Results highlight culturally informed S&P's promotive and protective effects in the face of ethnic-racial discrimination. Implications for subsequent study of culturally based coping are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
... The act of civic engagement has been shown to be a driver of meaning and purpose for those from marginalized groups (Sumner et al., 2018). Similarly, spiritually based coping may also be enacted in a way consistent with S&P with marginalized individuals reappraising and accepting instances of discrimination as part of the plan of a higher power and subsequently finding purpose, optimism, and hope for the future in their relationship with their faith/spiritual community (Christophe et al., 2021). ...
... In the sample of 364 minoritized emerging adults examined in the current study, associations between shift, persist, civic engagement, and spiritually based coping were explained through a higher-order coping factor representing the commonalities among all these ways of coping (Christophe et al., 2021). This factor, coined culturally informed S&P, represents the unobserved way of coping that embodies cognitive reappraisal, acceptance, and purpose in life with the potentially promotive and protective aspects of youth's cultural identities that are expressed through coping. ...
... This factor, coined culturally informed S&P, represents the unobserved way of coping that embodies cognitive reappraisal, acceptance, and purpose in life with the potentially promotive and protective aspects of youth's cultural identities that are expressed through coping. In this sample, greater culturally informed S&P coping was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and, for youth who engaged in high levels of this style of coping, discrimination was no longer a risk factor for depressive symptoms (Christophe et al., 2021). Finally, we found that ERI was no longer negatively associated with depression when controlling for culturally informed S&P, lending credence to the claim that promotive aspects of ERI on depression may be accounted for by assessing the culturally informed S&P construct. ...
This study aims to better understand how racially/ethnically minoritized youth exhibit adaptive psychological functioning (less anxiety) and health behaviors (better sleep and less binge drinking) in the context of discrimination, ethnic-racial identity and coping. Among 364 minoritized emerging adults (Mage = 18.79, 85.2% female), we utilized higher-order factor analysis to examine how culturally informed shift-&-persist (S&P), a higher-order construct explaining associations between coping factors (shift, persist, spiritually based coping, civic engagement), and ethnic-racial identity were related to anxiety, binge drinking, and sleep in the context of discrimination. Culturally informed S&P promoted better sleep and less anxiety controlling for discrimination. No significant effects were observed for binge drinking and no moderated effects were observed across outcomes. The harmful effect of discrimination on sleep was intensified for those with stronger ethnic-racial identities. The promotive and potentially protective effects of culturally informed S&P coping differs across mental health and health behavior outcomes.
... Consistent with theory, shift-&-persist moderated the relation between economic hardship and depressive symptoms in a cross-sectional sample of 175 Latinx youth (M age = 14; 100% Latinx), where the positive relation between economic hardship and depressive symptoms was attenuated for youth high in shift-&-persist, but not those with lower levels of shift-&-persist (Christophe et al., 2019). Another recent cross-sectional study also found that shift-&persist moderated the relation between discrimination and depressive symptoms in a college student sample such that for those highest in shift-&persist the discrimination-depressive link was completely mitigated but not those at mean or below the mean of shift-&-persist (Christophe, Stein, Martin Romero, Patel, & Sircar, 2021). Thus, our team has established cross-sectional studies in different data sets that shift-&-persist confers protective mental health effects in the face of economic stress and discrimination. ...
... Longitudinal work has indicated that the shift-&persist coping strategies protect low-SES youth and youth faced with unfair treatment from poor physical health outcomes (Chen et al., 2011;Lam et al., 2018), and cross-sectional work has indicated that shift-&-persist coping strategies are associated with lower youth depressive symptoms (Christophe et al., 2019(Christophe et al., , 2021. However, the shift-&-persist paradigm has yet to be extended to mental health outcomes longitudinally in adolescence. ...
... Similarly, spiritually based coping also involves shifting away from the stressor and providing deeper meaning and purpose (persist) (Sumner, Burrow, & Hill, 2018). There is emerging evidence from a different sample of college students that shift-&-persist coupled with critical civic engagement and spiritually based coping may mitigate the impact of discrimination on depressive symptoms, indicating that these coping resources may be necessary components needed to overcome the negative mental health impacts of discrimination (Christophe et al., 2021). Future work should consider other constellation of coping resources that are embedded in the daily lives of minoritized youth that can serve as net protective factors in the toxic environment of racism and discrimination (Spencer, 2006). ...
This paper tested whether shift-&-persist coping, or coping involving the combination of cognitive reappraisal, acceptance, and optimism (Chen & Miller, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2012, 7, 135), attenuates the risks presented by economic hardship and ethnic discrimination for change in depressive symptoms from 9th to 12th grade, in a sample of 674 Mexican American youth (Mage W1 = 10.86; 50% female; 72% US born) and whether this effect depends on ethnic pride. Structural equation modeling indicated that, when accounting for economic hardship, shift-&-persist was associated with fewer concurrent depression symptoms. Youth with lower ethnic pride who endorsed high levels of shift-&-persist were protected against the negative impacts of peer ethnic discrimination on depressive symptoms. Future research on ethnic discrimination should examine patterns of coping and identity that can mitigate risk.
... Prior reliability in a sample of youth was α = .90 for depressive symptoms (Christophe et al., 2021). Our sample demonstrated similar reliability (α overall = .909, ...
As the research on familism values, or cultural values relating to support, interconnectedness, and obligations has blossomed, scholars are increasingly interested in the applicability and impact of familism values across diverse racial/ethnic youth. However, existing measures of familism tend to be long, posing potential practicality issues and have not been validated for use across youth from different racial/ethnic groups. Through a series of conceptual steps and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we developed the Short Attitudinal Familism Scale, a 6-item, shortened, unidimensional version of Lugo Steidel and Contreras's (2003) 18-item Attitudinal Familism Scale. This measure was created and validated in a sample of 671 Black, Latinx American, Asian American, and Multiracial youth (Mage = 17.23, 73.6% female). Multigroup measurement invariance testing indicated that the Short Attitudinal Familism Scale was almost wholly noninvariant and may be used reliably across racial/ethnic groups. Finally, we established construct validity by demonstrating negative associations with depressive symptoms in all but Asian American youth and positive associations between familism and ethnic-racial identity (ERI) for all youth. In conducting these tests using regressions using observed mean scores and structural equation modeling (SEM) using latent variables, we demonstrated that using a mean score of this scale led to small and negligible amounts of attenuation in estimates and similar statistical conclusions compared to those derived from SEM. Our study adds to the field by introducing a practical, unidimensional measure of familism values that may be used across racial/ethnic groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
In the current study, we investigated the emergence of racial-identity latent profiles and the potential for racial-identity profiles to moderate the relationship between race-related stress and trauma symptoms in nontreatment-seeking, trauma-exposed, Black American women ( N = 222). Racial-identity profiles emerged from latent profile analyses and supported a three-class solution: undifferentiated, detached, and nationalist. Analysis of variance revealed that the nationalist profile group experienced significantly higher race-related stress compared with the detached and undifferentiated profiles. Moderation analyses revealed racial-identity profile type predicted both total posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and each PTSD symptom cluster; specifically, the nationalist profile type buffered the effects of race-related stress on PTSD symptoms. This study illustrates how stress from racial discrimination influences PTSD symptoms and the ways racial identity may mitigate this relationship, which has the capacity to inform the adaptation of PTSD treatments for minoritized groups.
Shift-&-persist is a coping strategy that has been shown to lead to positive health outcomes in low-SES youth but has not yet been examined with respect to psychological health. This study tests whether the shift-&-persist coping strategy works in tandem with ethnic-racial identity to protect against depressive symptoms in the face of two uncontrollable stressors: economic hardship and peer discrimination. In a sample of 175 Latinx youth (51.4% female; Mage = 12.9), shift-&-persist buffered the positive relation between economic hardship and depressive symptoms. In terms of peer discrimination, among youth who reported little use of shift and persist, discrimination was related to higher depressive symptoms, whereas youth who reported higher amounts of shift and persist (at and above the mean) were protected and did not evidence this association. However, among youth with high ethnic-racial identity, shift-&-persist failed to protect against the deleterious association between peer discrimination and depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that shift-&-persist is protective for Latinx youth, although the context in which it is protective changes based on the racialized/non-racialized nature of the stressor.
It seems obvious that the identification of coping structure is necessary to understand how stress affects human health and functioning. Despite numerous coping conceptualization proposals, there is no agreement as to the core coping categories. This article presents the Coping Circumplex Model (CCM), which is designed to integrate various coping distinctions, drawing inspiration from the tradition of circumplex models in psychology. The model is based on the assumption that individuals in stressful situations face two tasks: they need to solve the problem and regulate their emotions, which are reflected in two corresponding dimensions, that is, the problem coping dimension and emotion coping dimension. Problem coping and emotion coping are interpreted as bipolar dimensions. Importantly, these dimensions define a space for other coping categories. The model contains a total of eight coping styles forming a circumplex: positive emotional coping, efficiency, problem solving, preoccupation with the problem, negative emotional coping, helplessness, problem avoidance, and hedonic disengagement. The paper discusses the potential of the CCM to overcome some of the problems of stress psychology by: (a) supplementing the set of coping categories (i.e., process, strategy, style) with coping mode; (b) providing a foundation for the integration of numerous coping constructs; (c) enabling the interpretation of results obtained by means of different coping measures, thus facilitating knowledge consolidation; (d) explaining relationships between coping and adjustment after trauma, as well as explaining the mechanisms of psychological interventions (e.g., cognitive therapy, exposure therapy); (e) clarifying linkages between the effectiveness of coping strategies and situation controllability. Moreover, the CCM may elucidate the relationship between coping and emotion regulation (e.g., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression).
Despite the importance of examining how adolescents and young adults contribute solutions to society's pressing problems, gaps in the literature leave unanswered the question of how young people become politically engaged. Research suggests that youth learn to be political by forming attachments to their communities and accessing opportunities in the settings of their everyday lives. Settings operate as mini‐polities through which youth develop a sense of what it means to be a member of a collective. Meaningful opportunities to practice political skills and behaviors can be fostered in schools and communities, via social media, and through policy change. Historic events, particularly elections, can also influence political attitudes and behaviors in lasting ways. Cultural and contextual variability in experiences, access to opportunities, and reactions to historic events shape youth's political developmental pathways. Research that is developmentally and culturally informed and that uses rigorous study designs can identify more effectively what determines the formation and growth of youth political engagement.
Scholarship on youth engagement indicates that adolescents address social issues of public concern, but it is not clear how youth challenge racism. This gap in the literature stems from indirect conceptualizations and a lack of quantitative measurement of adolescents’ acts to oppose racism. Correspondingly, this study presents the validation of a measure of youth anti-racism action. Study 1 describes the youth participatory approach used in the development of the Anti-Racism Action Scale and presents the results from an exploratory factor analysis that examined the measure’s initial factor structure and reliability. The factor structure of the 22-item measure was explored with a diverse sample of adolescents (Mage = 16.00, SD = 1.18; 61.7% girls, Black/African American [29.3%], Asian/South Asian [21.1%], White/European American [24.4%], Arab/Middle-Eastern [17.5%], Latino/Hispanic [4.5%], and Multiracial [3.3%]) enrolled in a race dialogue program (n = 249). The results indicated the measure consisted of three subscales: Interpersonal Action, Communal Action, and Political Change Action. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with an independent, nationally representative sample of youth (n = 384) from diverse backgrounds (Mage = 17.00, SD = 1.29, 51.0% girls, White/European American [26.1%], Black/African American [25.6%], Latino/Hispanic [19.3%], Asian/Pacific Islander [13.6%], Multiracial [9.9%], Native American [5.2%] and “other” [0.3%]). The results confirmed a three-factor model that resulted in a 16-item measure. Furthermore, tests of convergent validity tests were pursued between the Anti-Racism Action Scale and the Critical Consciousness Scale, a widely used measure of youths’ awareness of the structural causes of various forms of oppression, sense of sociopolitical agency, and social action. This study suggests that youth engagement in anti-racism is multidimensional and that notion of adolescent social action are more diverse than represented in the literature.
Sociopolitical development (SPD) is the process by which individuals become aware of social inequality, recognize the status of their social identities, and engage in activism. For racially marginalized youth, race is an important aspect of their SPD. Yet few studies have considered the connections between racial factors and youth's SPD. In this article, we introduce an integrative model situating racial sociocultural processes (i.e., racial identity, racial socialization, and experiences of racial discrimination) within current SPD theory. In particular, we look at African American youth as a case study to discuss how sociocultural factors can contribute to youth's awareness of structures of social inequality (i.e., critical social analysis) and engagement in action against social inequality (i.e., sociopolitical action). We conclude with suggestions for research.
An important aspect of identity development requires adolescents to consider and select the cultural label or labels that best fit with their conception of who they are. Yet, little is known about the longitudinal development of such labeling preferencs and their possible links with adjustment. Using longitudinal data from 180 Asian Americans (60% female; 74% U.S.-born), intra-individual and group-level changes in adolescents’ American label use were tracked. Over time, 48% chose an American label as their “best-fitting” label and 42% chose an American label at least once, but did not include an American label during at least one other time point. American label use was not associated with continuous measures of American identity, but the use of American labels was linked with lower levels of ethnic identity. American identity, whether indicated by label use or continuous scale scores, was generally linked with positive psychological and academic adjustment, with some effects of label use moderated by gender and generational status. Developmental implications of American cultural labels as markers of adolescent identity and broader adjustment are discussed.
Background
Latino adolescents are a subpopulation of youth who are disproportionately at risk for experiencing low levels of hope, which is linked to high levels of anxiety. However, factors such as religion/spirituality (i.e., identifying as a spiritual/religious person), that may buffer this association are not yet clear. Religion/spirituality may serve as a protective factor in this link by fostering positive coping.
Objective
The current study examined the moderating role of religion/spirituality the link between hope and anxiety in a sample of Latino youth. Religion/spirituality combined with high levels of hope was hypothesized to be associated with the lowest levels of anxiety.
Methods
134 Latino adolescents (83.5% Mexican heritage) attending a charter high school in a large Midwestern city (45.5% Male, M = 16.14 years, SD = 1.31) completed a survey that included items measuring religiosity/spirituality, beliefs around goal setting, and self-reported anxiety symptoms.
Results
A link between hope and anxiety was evident, with higher levels of hope associated with lower levels of anxiety. However, religion/spirituality moderated the association between hope and anxiety. Simple slope plots revealed that a negative association between hope and anxiety was only evident in the presence of religion/spirituality. Hope was unrelated to anxiety in the absence of religion/spirituality.
Conclusions
Findings did not support a buffering effect of religion/spirituality. Religious/spiritual coping may strengthen the link between high levels of hope and low anxiety levels in this sample.
Objectives:
The current study investigates the utility of political activism as a protective factor against experiences of racial/ethnic (R/E) discrimination that negatively affect stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among Black and Latinx college freshmen at predominately White institutions.
Method:
Data come from the Minority College Cohort Study, a longitudinal investigation of Black and Latinx college students (N = 504; 44% Black). We conducted multiple regression analyses for each mental health indicator and tested for interaction effects.
Results:
For Black and Latinx students, the relationship between R/E microaggressions and end of freshman year stress varied by political activism. For Black students, the relationship between R/E microaggressions and end of the year anxiety varied by political activism. There was a significant interaction effect for depressive symptoms among Latinx students.
Conclusions:
Political activism serves as a protective factor to mitigate the negative effect of R/E discrimination on stress and depressive symptoms for Latinx students. For Black students, higher levels of political activism may exacerbate experiences of R/E microaggressions and relate to more stress and anxiety compared with Black students who are less politically involved. Findings point to the need for a deeper understanding of phenomenological variation in experiences of microaggressions among R/E minorities and how students leverage political activism as an adaptive coping strategy to mitigate race-related stress during college. (PsycINFO Database Record
In this meta-analytic and narrative review, we examine several overarching issues related to the study of coping, emotion regulation, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms of psychopathology in childhood and adolescence, including the conceptualization and measurement of these constructs. We report a quantitative meta-analysis of 212 studies (N = 80,850 participants) that measured the associations between coping and emotion regulation with symptoms of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Within the meta-analysis we address the association of broad domains of coping and emotion regulation (e.g., total coping, emotion regulation), intermediate factors of coping and emotion regulation (e.g., primary control coping, secondary control coping), and specific coping and emotion regulation strategies (e.g., emotional expression, cognitive reappraisal) with internalizing and externalizing symptoms. For cross-sectional studies, which made up the majority of studies included, we examine 3 potential moderators: age, measure quality, and single versus multiple informants. Finally, we separately consider findings from longitudinal studies as these provide stronger tests of the effects. After accounting for publication bias, findings indicate that the broad domain of emotion regulation and adaptive coping and the factors of primary control coping and secondary control coping are related to lower levels of symptoms of psychopathology. Further, the domain of maladaptive coping, the factor of disengagement coping, and the strategies of emotional suppression, avoidance, and denial are related to higher levels of symptoms of psychopathology. Finally, we offer a critique of the current state of the field and outline an agenda for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record
Political activism is one way racially/ethnically marginalized youth can combat institutional discrimination and seek legislative change toward equality and justice. In the current study, we examine participation in #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) and advocacy for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as political activism popular among youth. Participants were 533 Black and Latino college students. We found that both Black and Latino students reported more involvement in BLM than DACA. There were no gender differences in participation for Black students, but Latina women reported greater participation in BLM and DACA than Latino men. We also tested whether demographic characteristics, racial/ethnic microaggressions, and political efficacy predict BLM and DACA involvement. For Black students, prior political activism predicted involvement in BLM and DACA and immigration status predicted DACA involvement. For Latino students, more experiences of racial/ethnic microaggressions predicted involvement in BLM and DACA and political efficacy predicted DACA involvement. Findings highlight rates of participation in modern sociopolitical movements and expand our understanding of how psychological factors may differentially promote activism for Black and Latino college students. © 2016 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.
Objective
To investigate the validity and reliability of a multi-informant approach to measuring child maltreatment (CM) comprising seven questions assessing CM administered to children and their parents in a large community sample.
Methods
Our sample comprised 2,512 children aged 6 to 12 years and their parents. Child maltreatment (CM) was assessed with three questions answered by the children and four answered by their parents, covering physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fit indices of different models. Convergent and divergent validity were tested using parent-report and teacher-report scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Discriminant validity was investigated using the Development and Well-Being Assessment to divide subjects into five diagnostic groups: typically developing controls (n = 1,880), fear disorders (n = 108), distress disorders (n = 76), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (n = 143) and oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (n = 56).
Results
A higher-order model with one higher-order factor (child maltreatment) encompassing two lower-order factors (child report and parent report) exhibited the best fit to the data and this model's reliability results were acceptable. As expected, child maltreatment was positively associated with measures of psychopathology and negatively associated with prosocial measures. All diagnostic category groups had higher levels of overall child maltreatment than typically developing children.
Conclusions
We found evidence for the validity and reliability of this brief measure of child maltreatment using data from a large survey combining information from parents and their children.
Mental disorders traditionally have been viewed as distinct, episodic, and categorical conditions. This view has been challenged by evidence that many disorders are sequentially comorbid, recurrent/chronic, and exist on a continuum. Using the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, we examined the structure of psychopathology, taking into account dimensionality, persistence, co-occurrence, and sequential comorbidity of mental disorders across 20 years, from adolescence to midlife. Psychiatric disorders were initially explained by three higher-order factors (Internalizing, Externalizing, and Thought Disorder) but explained even better with one General Psychopathology dimension. We have called this dimension the p factor because it conceptually parallels a familiar dimension in psychological science: the g factor of general intelligence. Higher p scores are associated with more life impairment, greater familiality, worse developmental histories, and more compromised early-life brain function. The p factor explains why it is challenging to find causes, consequences, biomarkers, and treatments with specificity to individual mental disorders. Transdiagnostic approaches may improve research.
One point of intersection in ethnic and racial identity research is the conceptual attention paid to how positively youth feel about their ethnicity or race, or positive ethnic–racial affect. This article reports results of a series of meta-analyses based on 46 studies of this dimension and psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic and racial minority youth. The overall pattern of results suggests that positive ethnic–racial affect exhibited small to medium associations (r range = |.11| to |.37|) with depressive symptoms, positive social functioning, self-esteem, well-being, internalizing, externalizing, academic achievement, academic attitudes, and health risk outcomes. Implications for theory and research about the role of positive ethnic–racial affect among youth growing up in an increasingly diverse society are discussed.
This study tested a portion of a model proposed by Constantine and Sue (200610.
Constantine , MG and
Sue , DW . 2006. Factors contributing to optimal human functioning in people of color in the United States. Counseling Psychologist, 34: 228–244. [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®]View all references) that examined whether certain attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors thought to be consistent with the cultural orientation and worldview of African Americans (i.e., religiosity, racial pride, and time orientation), would predict ego resilience, optimism, and subjective well-being in a sample of African American college students (N = 215). Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis that cultural orientation would predict ego resilience, optimism, and subjective well-being in the current sample of African American college students. Religiosity and racial pride positively predicted psychological functioning and well-being. Present time orientation, however, negatively predicted psychological functioning and well-being. Implications of the study's findings are discussed in the context of future research and clinical interventions.
This article describes the development and validation of the Africultural Coping Systems Inventory (ACSI). The ACSI is a 30-item measure of the culture-specific coping strategies used by African Americans in stressful situations and is grounded in an African-centered conceptual framework. Findings from a principal components factor analysis conducted with a sample of African American adults (N = 180) supported a four-factor model as best representing the culture-specific coping behaviors of the group. A content review of the factors suggested the following dimensions of coping behaviors: cognitive/emotional debriefing, spiritual-centered coping, collective coping, and ritual-centered coping. Using a separate sample of African Americans (N = 220), the ACSI was subjected to a confirmatory factor analytic procedure to establish whether the four-dimension model of coping adequately fit the data. This procedure indicated that the four-factor oblique model was the best fit. The ACSI also demonstrated adequate internal consistency and concurrent validity. The authors discuss limitations of the study and implications for future research.
The authors examine the relationships between dimensions of collective self-esteem and Africultural coping styles in a sample of African American adolescents. They found that African American adolescents with higher public collective self-esteem (i.e., the belief that others feel positively about their cultural group) reported greater use of spiritual-centered Africultural coping styles to deal with stressful situations. Results also revealed that higher importance to identity collective self-esteem (i.e., the belief that their cultural group is an important part of their self-concept) was related to greater use of collective coping strategies among African American adolescents.
Many psychological constructs are conceived to be hierarchically structured and thus to operate at various levels of generality. Alternative confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) models can be used to study various aspects of this proposition: (a) The one-factor model focuses on the top of the hierarchy and contains only a general construct, (b) the first-order factor model focuses on the intermediate level of the hierarchy and contains only specific constructs, and both (c) the higher order factor model and (d) the nested-factor model consider the hierarchy in its entirety and contain both general and specific constructs (e.g., bifactor model). This tutorial considers these CFA models in depth, addressing their psychometric properties, interpretation of general and specific constructs, and implications for model-based score reliabilities. The authors illustrate their arguments with normative data obtained for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and conclude with recommendations on which CFA model is most appropriate for which research and diagnostic purposes.
The Brief RCOPE is a 14-item measure of religious coping with major life stressors. As the most commonly used measure of religious coping in the literature, it has helped contribute to the growth of knowledge about the roles religion serves in the process of dealing with crisis, trauma, and transition. This paper reports on the development of the Brief RCOPE and its psychometric status. The scale developed out of Pargament’s (1997) program of theory and research on religious coping. The items themselves were generated through interviews with people experiencing major life stressors. Two overarching forms of religious coping, positive and negative, were articulated through factor analysis of the full RCOPE. Positive religious coping methods reflect a secure relationship with a transcendent force, a sense of spiritual connectedness with others, and a benevolent world view. Negative religious coping methods reflect underlying spiritual tensions and struggles within oneself, with others, and with the divine. Empirical studies document the internal consistency of the positive and negative subscales of the Brief RCOPE. Moreover, empirical studies provide support for the construct validity, predictive validity, and incremental validity of the subscales. The Negative Religious Coping subscale, in particular, has emerged as a robust predictor of health-related outcomes. Initial evidence suggests that the Brief RCOPE may be useful as an evaluative tool that is sensitive to the effects of psychological interventions. In short, the Brief RCOPE has demonstrated its utility as an instrument for research and practice in the psychology of religion and spirituality.
The purpose of the current study was to demonstrate the replicable nature of statistical suppressor effects in coping research through 2 examples with African American adolescents from low-income communities.
Participants in the 1st example included 497 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.61 years, SD = 0.99; 57% female) reporting on dispositional coping, and participants in the 2nd example included 268 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.90 years, SD = 1.27; 56% female) reporting on situation-based coping. Participants in both samples completed self-report measures of coping strategies (Children's Coping Strategies Checklist and How I Coped Under Pressure Scale) and internalizing symptoms (Youth Self-Report, Children's Depression Inventory, and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale).
The results of structural equation modeling revealed significant suppressor effects, with active coping and support-seeking coping enhancing the association between avoidant coping and internalizing symptoms.
The demonstration of replicable suppressor effects helps to advance coping research and intervention by providing evidence of the interdependence of coping strategies, thus increasing understanding of how coping strategies work together to predict outcomes. The current study offers recommendations for understanding associations among coping strategies within the context of suppression effects.
This research evaluates the properties of a measure of culturally linked values of Mexican Americans in early adolescence and adulthood. The items measure were derived from qualitative data provided by focus groups in which Mexican Americans' (adolescents, mothers and fathers) perceptions of key values were discussed. The focus groups and a preliminary item refinement resulted in the fifty-item Mexican American Cultural Values Scales (identical for adolescents and adults) that includes nine value subscales. Analyses of data from two large previously published studies sampling Mexican American adolescents, mothers, and fathers provided evidence of the expected two correlated higher order factor structures, reliability, and construct validity of the subscales of the Mexican American Cultural Values Scales as indicators of values that are frequently associated with Mexican/Mexican American culture. The utility of this measure for use in longitudinal research, and in resolving some important theoretical questions regarding dual cultural adaptation, are discussed.
A scaled difference test statistic
\(\tilde{T}{}_{d}\)
that can be computed from standard software of structural equation models (SEM) by hand calculations was proposed in Satorra and Bentler (Psychometrika 66:507–514, 2001). The statistic
\(\tilde{T}_{d}\)
is asymptotically equivalent to the scaled difference test statistic
\(\bar{T}_{d}\)
introduced in Satorra (Innovations in Multivariate Statistical Analysis: A Festschrift for Heinz Neudecker, pp. 233–247, 2000), which requires more involved computations beyond standard output of SEM software. The test statistic
\(\tilde{T}_{d}\)
has been widely used in practice, but in some applications it is negative due to negativity of its associated scaling correction. Using the implicit function theorem, this note develops an improved scaling correction leading to a new scaled difference statistic
\(\bar{T}_{d}\)
that avoids negative chi-square values.
The current study examined the impact of racial discrimination stress on internalizing symptoms and coping strategies in a sample of 268 African American early adolescents (mean age = 12.90; 56% female) from low-income communities. Information about discrimination stress, coping, and internalizing symptoms was obtained via adolescents' self-report. It was predicted that discrimination stress would be positively associated with depression and anxiety, as well as culturally-specific coping. Finally, culturally-relevant coping and mainstream coping were examined as moderators of the association between discrimination stress and internalizing symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that discrimination stress was positively associated with depression and anxiety and predicted culturally-relevant coping while controlling for mainstream coping. Communalistic coping moderated the association between discrimination and anxiety, but demonstrated a vulnerability function by increasing anxiety at high levels of discrimination. The results highlight the salience of racial discrimination for African American adolescents and the importance of considering culturally-specific coping behaviors.
Racism is a stressor that contributes to racial/ethnic disparities in mental and physical health and to variations in these outcomes within racial and ethnic minority groups. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss key issues in the study of individual-level strategies for coping with interpersonal racism. We begin with a discussion of the ways in which racism acts as a stressor and requires the mobilization of coping resources. Next, we examine available models for describing and conceptualizing strategies for coping with racism. Third, we discuss three major forms of coping: racial identity development, social support seeking and anger suppression and expression. We examine empirical support for the role of these coping strategies in buffering the impact of racism on specific health-related outcomes, including mental health (i.e., specifically, self-reported psychological distress and depressive symptoms), self-reported physical health, resting blood pressure levels, and cardiovascular reactivity to stressors. Careful examination of the effectiveness of individual-level coping strategies can guide future interventions on both the individual and community levels.
Resilience refers to the notion that some people succeed in the face of adversity. In a risk-protective model of resilience, a protective factor interacts with a risk factor to mitigate the occurrence of a negative outcome. This study tested longitudinally the protective effects of sociopolitical control on the link between helplessness and mental health. The study included 172 urban, male, African American adolescents, who were interviewed twice, 6 months apart. Sociopolitical control was defined as the beliefs about one's capabilities and efficacy in social and political systems. Two mental health outcomes were examined--psychological symptoms and self-esteem. Regression analysis to predict psychological symptoms and self-esteem over time were conducted. High levels of sociopolitical control were found to limit the negative consequences of helplessness on mental health. The results suggest that sociopolitical control may help to protect youths from the negative consequences of feelings of helplessness. Implications for prevention strategies are discussed.
The purpose of this paper is to trace the role of culture as an explanatory construct in developmental processes and outcomes, and its implications in the understanding of developmental psychopathology. Literature reviews were conducted by historical period: 1930-1939, 1960-1969, and 1990-1999. The percentage of the total articles and chapters pertaining to cultural issues increased as a function of time. Both conceptual and methodological continuities and discontinuities were observed among the three periods. The preponderance of comparative studies using deficit models still remains, but more enlightened alternative conceptual models, within culture studies, and measures of cultural processes, are emerging. In contrast, although contextual influences are considered important in developmental psychopathology, the field lags in its empirical consideration of cultural influences. The need to seriously address these issues will increase as globalization and rapid cultural change become even more the norm than the exception.
Research on African American racial identity has utilized 2 distinct approaches. The mainstream approach has focused on universal properties associated with ethnic and racial identities. In contrast, the underground approach has focused on documenting the qualitative meaning of being African American, with an emphasis on the unique cultural and historical experiences of African Americans. The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) represents a synthesis of the strengths of these two approaches. The underlying assumptions associated with the model are explored. The model proposes 4 dimensions of African American racial identity: salience, centrality, regard, and ideology. A description of these dimensions is provided along with a discussion of how they interact to influence behavior at the level of the event. We argue that the MMRI has the potential to make contributions to traditional research objectives of both approaches, as well as to provide the impetus to explore new questions.
Stress can have a significant effect on an adolescent's long-term physical and mental well-being. An understanding of the role of unmanaged stress during early adolescence is critical for the prevention of chronic diseases such as depression. The purpose of the Shifting the Lens study was to explore perceptions of stress, sources of social support, and use of coping strategies among urban African American ninth graders.
A youth-driven, mixed-method approach was used to assess teens' perceptions of stress. During the 2001-2002 school year, teen participants (N = 26) from East Baltimore, Md, completed questionnaires, audio journals, pile-sort activities, and personal social support network maps.
In contrast with existing literature that emphasizes the influence of violence and neighborhood factors on stress among teens, teens prioritized other sources of stress, particularly from school, friends, and family. For support, they relied on different individuals, depending on the source of the stress--friends for romantic relationship stress and family for job, school, and family stress. Sex differences in the coping styles of the participating teens were found. Girls reported more frequent use of support-seeking and active coping strategies than boys.
The use of multiple data collection strategies to explore stress uniquely contributes to our understanding of how one group of teens perceives and copes with stress. Future research should explore stress from the youth perspective in communities that are similar to East Baltimore, Md. In addition, programmatic recommendations include the need for sex-specific stress management activities and education about youth stress for adults. Community participatory translation interventions based on study findings, such as a youth-produced video and a resource guide for youth service providers, were implemented.
The aims of this mixed-methods study were (a) to explore quantitatively the
fit of the COPE inventory (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced)
for Latinx youth from immigrant families, and (b) to explore qualitatively
aspects of coping in this population. Participants were 175 Latinx adolescents
(51% female), most of whom were U.S.-born with immigrant parents (88%)
and primarily of Mexican origin (89%). The average age was 12.9 years for
the quantitative study and 15.7 years for the qualitative study. Qualitative
interviews engaged a subset (n = 14) of the full study. All participants lived
in the southeastern United States and the research received institutional
review board (IRB) approval. The confirmatory factor analysis of the
COPE inventory was not a good fit for the sample. Thus, an exploration
of alternative approaches to coping was undertaken (exploratory factor
analysis [EFA] and qualitative interviews). A three-factor solution was
selected as the best fit in the EFA; the researchers labeled the factors
as “purposeful cognitive/behavioral engagement,” “support seeking,” and
“separation/disengagement.” In the qualitative interview data, five main
themes were described (relational coping, positive thinking/self-talk,
planning, separating/disengaging, and behavioral coping). The researchers
suggest implications for reframing coping with Latinx participants or
collectivist groups, emphasizing the central role of cultural values.
Despite its implications for positive youth development, factors and processes that promote civic engagement are critically understudied, particularly among Muslim American adolescents for whom opportunities for civic engagement could be hindered by Islamophobia and hate crimes. Prior work has proposed that parents can strengthen adolescents’ group belonging and motivate their civic engagement, but this mediating link has not been empirically tested. Moreover, parents’ religious socialization and adolescents’ religious identity remain understudied, especially with respect to possible daily fluctuations. We used experience sampling methods to: (1) explore momentary fluctuations and temporal relations between two dimensions of Muslim American adolescents’ religious identity (i.e., private regard and centrality) over the course of 14
days (Phase 2); and (2) examine if Muslim American adolescents’ momentary religious identity (Phase 2) mediated associations between their stable perceptions of maternal religious socialization (Phase 1) and subsequent civic engagement (Phase 3). Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling revealed positive autoregressive and cross-lagged relations between religious private regard and centrality. Moreover, adolescents’ momentary religious identities differentially mediated the associations between maternal religious socialization and civic attitudes and behaviors, suggesting specificity in these developmental processes. Our findings have important implications for programs and policies to support the self-empowerment and positive development of Muslim American adolescents.
Moderation analysis with latent variables is an important topic in social science research. Although different methods have been proposed for latent moderation analysis in the past three decades, these methods have weaknesses in certain circumstances. We therefore propose the factor score approach as a straightforward and implementation-friendly alternative in latent moderation analysis. This approach has several advantages over other existing methods, such as being able to test higher-order interaction models and interaction-as-outcome models. We compared the empirical performance of the factor score approach and other commonly used methods, namely the unconstrained product indicator approach and the latent moderated structural equation approach, by conducting a simulation study. Results indicated that the factor score approach worked satisfactorily under a range of model conditions. Using these results, we can offer applied researchers some practical guidelines of use for the factor score approach with regard to the subject variable (N/P) ratio and reliability level.
The detrimental effects of discrimination are well documented; however, the influence of ethnic/racial identity (ERI) on this association is equivocal. There is theoretical and empirical support for both protective and detrimental effects of ERI. This meta-analysis includes 53 effect sizes from 51 studies and 18,545 participants spanning early adolescence to adulthood to synthesize the interaction of ERI and discrimination for adjustment outcomes. Consistent with existing meta-analyses, discrimination was associated with compromised adjustment; further, this effect was buffered by overall ERI particularly for academic and physical health outcomes. Different ERI dimensions and adjustment outcomes revealed important patterns. ERI exploration increased vulnerabilities associated with discrimination, particularly for negative mental health and risky health behaviors. The exacerbating influence of ERI exploration was strongest at age 24, and more recent publications reported weaker exacerbating effects. In contrast, ERI commitment conferred protection. A composite score of ERI exploration and commitment also conferred protection against discrimination. Sample demographics mattered. The buffering effect of ERI commitment was stronger for Latinx (compared with Asian heritage) individuals. The buffering effect of public regard was stronger for Asian heritage (compared with African heritage) individuals. For positive mental health outcomes, a composite score of ERI exploration and commitment had a stronger buffering effect for Latinx (compared with African heritage) individuals. For risky health behaviors, Latinx individuals reported a stronger buffering effect of ERI (compared with African heritage and Asian heritage) individuals. The current meta-analysis identifies gaps in the literature and offers suggestions for future research.
Objective:
Low socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the most well-established social determinants of health. However, little is known about what can protect the health of individuals (especially children) living in low-SES circumstances. This study explored whether the psychological strategy of "shift-and-persist" protects low-SES children from stress-related physiological risks, as measured through blunted (unhealthy) diurnal cortisol profiles.
Methods:
A sample of 645 children (aged 8-15 years) from low-SES backgrounds and having at least one HIV-positive parent completed a battery of psychological scales. Diurnal cortisol assessments included collection of saliva samples four times a day for 3 days, from which three cortisol parameters (cortisol at awakening, cortisol awakening response, and cortisol slope) were derived.
Results:
Higher levels of shift-and-persist, considered as a single variable, were associated with higher cortisol at awakening (B = 0.0119, SE = 0.0034, p < .001) and a steeper cortisol slope (B = -0.0007, SE = 0.0003, p = .023). These associations remained significant after adjusting for covariates and did not vary by age. In supplementary analyses, where shifting and persisting were treated as separate variables, the interaction between these two coping strategies significantly predicted cortisol at awakening (B = 0.0250, SE = 0.0107, p = .020) and the cortisol slope (B = -0.0022, SE = 0.0011, p = .040), suggesting that the combination of shift-and-persist is important for predicting diurnal cortisol profiles.
Conclusions:
Our findings demonstrate that shift-and-persist is associated with healthier diurnal cortisol profiles among socioeconomically disadvantaged children and introduce the possibility that this coping strategy is protective against other stressors, such as those uniquely faced by children in our study (i.e., being affected by parental HIV).
In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of research focused on purpose in life, demonstrating a host of benefits that emerge for individuals committed to a purpose. As with other constructs in the positive youth development framework, there is a paucity of work investigating how experiences of marginalization impact the development of this psychological asset among adolescents. To catalyze research on this front, we draw attention to potential opportunities and obstacles associated with experiences of marginalization and how they might affect an adolescent developing a purpose in life. Like García Coll and colleagues’ (1996) integrative model, our perspective includes sociocultural factors (e.g., social position, adaptive culture), an emphasis on intragroup variability, and discussion of potentially promoting and inhibiting aspects of marginalization. Following a description of existing research on purpose development during adolescence, we discuss how experiences of marginalization could contour the development of self-integrative, strong, and articulated purpose among adolescents. To conclude, specific considerations for future research are outlined, including how existing definitions of and tools for measuring purpose can be adapted to produce a scientific literature that values and includes the normative purpose development of adolescents who experience marginalization.
The links between low socioeconomic status and poor health are well established, yet despite adversity, some individuals with low socioeconomic status appear to avoid these negative consequences through adaptive coping. Previous research found a set of strategies, called shift-and-persist (shifting the self to stressors while persisting by finding meaning), to be particularly adaptive for individuals with low socioeconomic status, who typically face more uncontrollable stressors. This study tested (a) whether perceived social status, similar to objective socioeconomic status, would moderate the link between shift-and-persist and health, and (b) whether a specific uncontrollable stressor, unfair treatment, would similarly moderate the health correlates of shift-and-persist. A sample of 308 youth ( Meanage = 13.0, range 8–17), physician diagnosed with asthma, completed measures of shift-and-persist, unfair treatment, asthma control, and quality of life in the lab, and 2 weeks of daily diaries about their asthma symptoms. Parents reported on perceived family social status. Results indicated that shift-and-persist was associated with better asthma profiles, only among youth from families with lower (vs. higher) parent-reported perceived social status. Shift-and-persist was also associated with better asthma profiles, only among youth who experienced more (vs. less) unfair treatment. These findings suggest that the adaptive values of coping strategies for youth with asthma depend on the family's perceived social status and on the stressor experienced.
This meta-analytic study systematically investigates the relations between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and socioemotional distress, academics, and risky health behaviors during adolescence, and potential variation in these relations. The study included 214 peer-reviewed articles, theses, and dissertations, with 489 unique effect sizes on 91,338 unique adolescents. Random-effects meta-analyses across 11 separate indicators of well-being identified significant detrimental effects. Greater perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination were linked to more depressive and internalizing symptoms; greater psychological distress; poorer self-esteem; lower academic achievement and engagement; less academic motivation; greater engagement in externalizing behaviors, risky sexual behaviors, and substance use; and more associations with deviant peers. Metaregression and subgroup analyses indicated differences by race/ethnicity, Gender × Race/Ethnicity interactions, developmental stage, timing of retrospective measurement of discrimination, and country. Overall, this study highlights the pernicious effects of racial/ethnic discrimination for adolescents across developmental domains and suggests who is potentially at greater risk.
In this chapter we use Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (P-VEST) to consider civic engagement as a coping response to systems of inequality faced by racial minority children. After a brief introduction we present a historical and theoretical overview of civic engagement with regard to children and adolescents and racially marginalized communities. We then introduce the P-VEST framework and examine civic engagement as a proactive reactive coping method to counteract the vulnerability and stress of systematic racial injustice. Following a discussion of the current empirical literature we explore the utility of civic engagement programs (e.g., Youth Participatory Action Research) as interventions to support positive development of minority youth. We conclude with policy implications and future directions for research to leverage civic engagement as a coping strategy for the positive development of minority children and their communities.
Shift-and-persist is a resilience construct hypothesized to be beneficial to physical health among individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES). This shift-and-persist construct entails a combination of reframing stressors more positively while also enduring adversity through finding purpose in life. In this study, we investigated how shift-and-persist relates to key inflammatory processes that are implicated in cardiovascular and other diseases. We also obtained validation information on a new shift-and-persist measure.
A sample of 122 adolescents and 122 parents from a diverse range of SES backgrounds completed our shift-and-persist measure, a battery of other psychosocial questionnaires and interviews, and provided blood samples. Parents also provided SES information.
Reliability and validity of the shift-and-persist measure were demonstrated across both adolescents and adults. Shift-and-persist moderated the association between SES and indicators of inflammatory regulation. Specifically, as SES declined, shift-and-persist was associated with greater sensitivity to glucocorticoids' anti-inflammatory properties (interaction in adolescents: β = .21, p = .033; interaction in adults: β = .25, p = .011), and also with less low-grade, chronic inflammation (interaction in adolescents: β = .18, p = .044). Conversely, as SES increased, the opposite pattern was evident.
These findings suggest that adaptive psychosocial characteristics have the potential to regulate inflammatory processes in ways that may mitigate risk for a number of chronic diseases, particularly among disadvantaged groups.
Experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination pose significant threats to the development and well‐being of racial and ethnic minority children. Fortunately, not all youth who experience discrimination are susceptible to its harmful effects. Growing evidence points to several racial and ethnic factors that promote positive youth development and protect against the potentially damaging effects of racial and ethnic adversity. This article summarizes emerging research trends and conclusions regarding the “promotive” and “protective” effects of racial and ethnic identity, ethnic‐racial socialization, and cultural orientation, as well as some of the mechanisms that may account for their salutary properties. The article concludes with a brief discussion of important considerations and directions for the future study of racial and ethnic resilience processes in ethnic minority youth.
This study provides evidence that the effects of perceived pervasive discrimination may be dynamic over time. It was expected that participants who perceived discrimination to be highly pervasive would initially be more likely to engage in inactive coping strategies than those who perceived low pervasiveness; however, those who continued to perceive high pervasiveness over time were expected ultimately to engage in more active strategies than those perceiving low pervasiveness. Using a 28-day diary, women and ethnic minorities described their daily experiences of discrimination and indicated their appraisals of its pervasiveness as well as their coping strategies. Results showed that participants who initially perceived low pervasiveness reported more active coping and religion use as well as less behavioral disengagement than those initially perceiving high pervasiveness. However, this pattern was reversed by the end of the study. Implications for integrating time into the assessment of coping with discrimination are discussed.
A framework for hypothesis testing and power analysis in the assessment of fit of covariance structure models is presented. We emphasize the value of confidence intervals for fit indices, and we stress the relationship of confidence intervals to a framework for hypothesis testing. The approach allows for testing null hypotheses of not-good fit, reversing the role of the null hypothesis in conventional tests of model fit, so that a significant result provides strong support for good fit. The approach also allows for direct estimation of power, where effect size is defined in terms of a null and alternative value of the root-mean-square error of approximation fit index proposed by J. H. Steiger and J. M. Lind (1980). It is also feasible to determine minimum sample size required to achieve a given level of power for any test of fit in this framework. Computer programs and examples are provided for power analyses and calculation of minimum sample sizes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Objective:
Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with many adverse health outcomes, including childhood overweight and obesity. However, little is understood about why some children defy this trend by maintaining a healthy weight despite living in obesogenic environments. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that the psychological strategy of "shift-and-persist" protects low-SES children from overweight and obesity. Shift-and-persist involves dealing with stressors by reframing them more positively while at the same time persisting in optimistic thoughts about the future.
Design and methods:
Middle school children (N = 1,523, ages 9-15) enrolled in a school-based obesity prevention trial completed health surveys and physical assessments. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the role of SES, shift-and-persist strategies, and their interaction on BMI z-scores, while controlling for student race/ethnicity, gender, and reported diet and physical activity.
Results:
Among children reporting engaging in less frequent shift-and-persist strategies, lower SES was associated with significantly higher BMI z-scores (P < 0.05). However, among children reporting engaging in more frequent shift-and-persist strategies, there was no association of SES with BMI z-score (P = 0.16), suggesting that shift-and-persist strategies may be protective against the association between SES and BMI.
Conclusions:
Interventions aimed at improving psychological resilience among children of low SES may provide a complementary approach to prevent childhood overweight and obesity among at-risk populations.
Little is understood about why some youth from low-socioeconomic-status (SES) environments exhibit good health despite adversity. This study tested whether role models and "shift-and-persist" approaches (reframing stressors more benignly while persisting with future optimism) protect low-SES youth from cardiovascular risk. A total of 163 youth, ages 13-16, completed role model interviews and shift-and-persist measures while cholesterol and inflammatory markers, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein were assessed. Low-SES youth with supportive role models had lower IL-6. Low-SES youth high in shift-and-persist also had lower IL-6. Shift-and-persist partially mediated the interaction of SES and role models on IL-6. Benefits were not found among high-SES youth. Identifying psychological buffers in low-SES youth has implications for health disparities.
Some individuals, despite facing recurrent, severe adversities in life such as low socioeconomic status (SES), are nonetheless able to maintain good physical health. This article explores why these individuals deviate from the expected association of low SES with poor health, and outlines a "shift-and-persist" model to explain the psychobiological mechanisms involved. This model proposes that in the midst of adversity, some children find role models who teach them to trust others, better regulate their emotions, and focus on their futures. Over a lifetime, these low SES children develop an approach to life that prioritizes shifting oneself (accepting stress for what it is and adapting the self to it) in combination with persisting (enduring life with strength by holding on to meaning and optimism). This combination of shift-and-persist strategies mitigates sympathetic-nervous-system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical responses to the barrage of stressors that low SES individuals confront. This tendency vectors individuals off the trajectory to chronic disease by forestalling pathogenic sequelae of stress reactivity, like insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and systemic inflammation. We outline evidence for the model, and argue that efforts to identify resilience-promoting processes are important in this economic climate, given limited resources for improving the financial circumstances of disadvantaged individuals.
This article examines the adequacy of the “rules of thumb” conventional cutoff criteria and several new alternatives for various fit indexes used to evaluate model fit in practice. Using a 2‐index presentation strategy, which includes using the maximum likelihood (ML)‐based standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) and supplementing it with either Tucker‐Lewis Index (TLI), Bollen's (1989) Fit Index (BL89), Relative Noncentrality Index (RNI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Gamma Hat, McDonald's Centrality Index (Mc), or root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA), various combinations of cutoff values from selected ranges of cutoff criteria for the ML‐based SRMR and a given supplemental fit index were used to calculate rejection rates for various types of true‐population and misspecified models; that is, models with misspecified factor covariance(s) and models with misspecified factor loading(s). The results suggest that, for the ML method, a cutoff value close to .95 for TLI, BL89, CFI, RNI, and Gamma Hat; a cutoff value close to .90 for Mc; a cutoff value close to .08 for SRMR; and a cutoff value close to .06 for RMSEA are needed before we can conclude that there is a relatively good fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data. Furthermore, the 2‐index presentation strategy is required to reject reasonable proportions of various types of true‐population and misspecified models. Finally, using the proposed cutoff criteria, the ML‐based TLI, Mc, and RMSEA tend to overreject true‐population models at small sample size and thus are less preferable when sample size is small.
This article examines the extent to which racial differences in socio-economic status (SES), social class and acute and chronic indicators of perceived discrimination, as well as general measures of stress can account for black-white differences in self-reported measures of physical and mental health. The observed racial differences in health were markedly reduced when adjusted for education and especially income. However, both perceived discrimination and more traditional measures of stress are related to health and play an incremental role in accounting for differences between the races in health status. These findings underscore the need for research efforts to identify the complex ways in which economic and non-economic forms of discrimination relate to each other and combine with socio-economic position and other risk factors and resources to affect health.
Low socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong predictor of many health problems, including asthma impairment; however, little is understood about why some patients defy this trend by exhibiting good asthma control despite living in adverse environments.
This study sought to test whether a psychological characteristic, the shift-and-persist strategy (dealing with stressors by reframing them more positively while at the same time persisting in optimistic thoughts about the future), protects low-SES children with asthma.
One hundred twenty-one children aged 9 to 18 years with a physician's diagnosis of asthma were recruited from medical practices and community advertisements (mean age, 12.6 years; 67% male; 61% white). Shift-and-persist scores and asthma inflammation (eosinophil counts and stimulated IL-4 cytokine production) were assessed at baseline, and asthma impairment (daily diary measures of rescue inhaler use and school absences) and daily peak flow were monitored at baseline and at a 6-month follow-up.
Children who came from low-SES backgrounds but who engaged in shift-and-persist strategies displayed less asthma inflammation at baseline (β = 0.19, P < .05), as well as less asthma impairment (reduced rescue inhaler use and fewer school absences; β = 0.32, P < .01) prospectively at the 6-month follow-up period. In contrast, shift-and-persist strategies were not beneficial among high-SES children with asthma.
An approach that focuses on the psychological qualities that low-SES children develop to adapt to stressors might represent a practical and effective starting point for reducing health disparities. Moreover, the approaches that are effective in low-SES communities might be different from those that are optimal in a high-SES context.
Psychosocial factors, including religious coping, consistently have been implicated in the expression of anxiety disorders. This study sought to investigate the relationship between religious coping on anxiety symptoms among a nonclinical sample of African American and European American young adults.
One hundred twenty-one European American and 100 African American young adults completed measures of anxiety and religious coping.
As predicted, results differed according to race. African Americans reported significantly more positive religious coping, less negative religious coping, and experienced fewer anxiety symptoms than European Americans. European Americans demonstrated a significant, positive relationship between negative religious coping and anxiety symptoms, and an opposite trend related to anxiety and positive religious coping. However, no such relationships emerged among the African American sample.
Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
A growing body of literature suggests that people often turn to religion when coping with stressful events. However, studies on the efficacy of religious coping for people dealing with stressful situations have yielded mixed results. No published studies to date have attempted to quantitatively synthesize the research on religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress. The purpose of the current study was to synthesize the research on situation-specific religious coping methods and quantitatively determine their efficacy for people dealing with stressful situations. A meta-analysis of 49 relevant studies with a total of 105 effect sizes was conducted in order to quantitatively examine the relationship between religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress. Four types of relationships were investigated: positive religious coping with positive psychological adjustment, positive religious coping with negative psychological adjustment, negative religious coping with positive psychological adjustment, and negative religious coping with negative psychological adjustment. The results of the study generally supported the hypotheses that positive and negative forms of religious coping are related to positive and negative psychological adjustment to stress, respectively. Implications of the findings and their limitations are discussed.