TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived stress and mental health
T2 - The mediating roles of social support and resilience among black women exposed to sexual violence
AU - Catabay, Christina J.
AU - Stockman, Jamila K.
AU - Campbell, Jacquelyn C.
AU - Tsuyuki, Kiyomi
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( R01HD077891 ), the National Institute of Drug Abuse ( K01DA031593 ; T32DA023356 ), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities ( L60MD003701 ; L60MD011184 ), and the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (K01AA025009). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Background: Black women disproportionately suffer from violence and its subsequent mental health outcomes. Increasing levels of perceived stress are associated with greater symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Social support and resilience can potentially mediate the negative consequences of perceived stress on women's mental health. This study assesses the association between perceived stress and mental health outcomes among Black women. In addition, this study examines social support and resilience as mediators of association between perceived stress and mental health. Methods: Black women residing in Baltimore, MD (n = 310) were recruited from STD clinics into a retrospective cohort study (2013–2018) on sexual assault and HIV risk. Social support and resilience served as coping variables and were assessed as mediators in the associations between perceived stress and mental health. Analyses were stratified by exposure to sexual violence in adulthood. Results: Almost half of our sample (46%) experienced severe depression and about one-third (27%) experienced severe PTSD. Resilience partially mediated the association between perceived stress and severe depressive symptoms among exposed women. Social support partially mediated the association between perceived stress and severe PTSD symptoms among exposed women. Limitations: Since this is a cross-sectional analysis, we are unable to determine the temporal relationship between outcome and exposure variables. The CES-D-10 and NSESSS are scales that measure the severity of depressive and PTSD symptoms, respectively, and are not clinical diagnoses. Conclusion: There is a critical need to develop interventions focused on reducing the burden of stress on mental health.
AB - Background: Black women disproportionately suffer from violence and its subsequent mental health outcomes. Increasing levels of perceived stress are associated with greater symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Social support and resilience can potentially mediate the negative consequences of perceived stress on women's mental health. This study assesses the association between perceived stress and mental health outcomes among Black women. In addition, this study examines social support and resilience as mediators of association between perceived stress and mental health. Methods: Black women residing in Baltimore, MD (n = 310) were recruited from STD clinics into a retrospective cohort study (2013–2018) on sexual assault and HIV risk. Social support and resilience served as coping variables and were assessed as mediators in the associations between perceived stress and mental health. Analyses were stratified by exposure to sexual violence in adulthood. Results: Almost half of our sample (46%) experienced severe depression and about one-third (27%) experienced severe PTSD. Resilience partially mediated the association between perceived stress and severe depressive symptoms among exposed women. Social support partially mediated the association between perceived stress and severe PTSD symptoms among exposed women. Limitations: Since this is a cross-sectional analysis, we are unable to determine the temporal relationship between outcome and exposure variables. The CES-D-10 and NSESSS are scales that measure the severity of depressive and PTSD symptoms, respectively, and are not clinical diagnoses. Conclusion: There is a critical need to develop interventions focused on reducing the burden of stress on mental health.
KW - Depression
KW - PTSD
KW - Perceived stress
KW - Resilience
KW - Social support
KW - Violence
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.037
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.037
M3 - Article
C2 - 31445340
AN - SCOPUS:85070855417
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 259
SP - 143
EP - 149
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -