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“Exploring Your Family Roots”: The Association Between Tracing Family Roots and Psychological Well-Being among African Americans

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Abstract

This study addresses the question of whether there is an association between tracing family roots and indicators of psychological well-being among African Americans, specifically self-esteem, mastery, and feelings of hopelessness. Data from a nationally representative sample of African Americans was used for this analysis. The findings of the bivariate regression models showed that having traced one’s family roots (i.e., personally or a family member of the respondent) was associated with significantly higher levels of mastery and self-esteem and reduced feelings of hopelessness. The relationships between tracing one’s family roots, self-esteem, and feelings of hopelessness remained after adjusting for relevant socio-demographic, health, and psychosocial factors. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of African American Studies (2023) 27:349–358
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-023-09635-4
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ARTICLES
“Exploring Your FamilyRoots”: The Association Between
TracingFamily Roots andPsychological Well‑Being
amongAfrican Americans
HarveyL.NicholsonJr.1
Accepted: 12 September 2023 / Published online: 13 October 2023
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023
Abstract
This study addresses the question of whether there is an association between tracing
family roots and indicators ofpsychological well-being among African Americans,
specifically self-esteem, mastery, and feelings of hopelessness. Data from a nationally
representative sample of African Americans was used for this analysis. The findings
of the bivariate regression models showed that having traced one’s family roots (i.e.,
personally or a family member of the respondent)was associated with significantly
higher levels of mastery and self-esteem and reduced feelings of hopelessness. The
relationships between tracing one’s family roots, self-esteem, and feelings of hopeless-
ness remained after adjusting for relevant socio-demographic, health, and psychoso-
cial factors. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Keywords Identity· Ancestry· Genealogical· Family roots· African Americans·
Mental health· Well-being
Introduction
Is there an association between “exploring your family roots” and psychological
well-beingamong African Americans? Previous research on other groups suggests
this may be a possibility (Duke etal., 2008;Lunt etal., 2022). African Americans
are a unique group to consider in terms of understanding whether tracing one’s fam-
ily roots can influence psychological well-being. In 1619, the first Africans, largely
from Western and Central Africa, arrived on North American shores after being
forcibly enslaved by Europeans who led the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Count-
less numbers ofAfricans were inhumanely sold, kidnapped, and transported from
the African continent to what would later become the USA. During the centuries
* Harvey L. Nicholson Jr.
Harvey.nicholsonjr@utoronto.ca
1 Department ofSociology, University ofToronto, Toronto, Canada
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