TY - JOUR
T1 - Refining Black men’s depression measurement using participatory approaches
T2 - a concept mapping study
AU - Adams, Leslie B.
AU - Baxter, Samuel L.K.
AU - Lightfoot, Alexandra F.
AU - Gottfredson, Nisha
AU - Golin, Carol
AU - Jackson, Leron C.
AU - Tabron, James
AU - Corbie-Smith, Giselle
AU - Powell, Wizdom
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Jennifer Richmond, PhD, MPH and Shikira Thomas, MSPH for assistance with group management and data collection processes. We also thank the participants for their thoughtful and diligent participation throughout the study period.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by a National Service Research Award Pre-Doctoral Traineeship from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sponsored by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (T32HS000032), the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (2KR961701), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K24HL105493).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Background: Despite cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage and risk factors, Black Americans have a lower prevalence of depression than whites. Given the emerging focus of depression as a public mental health crisis, culturally informed depression measures and scale development techniques are needed to better alleviate the mental health burden of socially marginalized populations. Yet, for Black men, race- and gender-related factors that position emotional vulnerability as a sign of weakness, may potentially mask the timely identification of mental health needs in this population. Thus, we address these gaps by employing a stakeholder-driven, community-engaged process for understanding Black men’s depression experience. Methods: We use concept mapping, a structured mixed methods approach, to determine how stakeholders of Black men’s health conceptualize their depressive symptoms. Thirty-six stakeholders participated in a three-phase concept mapping study conducted in 2018. Three separate stakeholder groups were engaged for this study, including Black men, Black women, and primary care providers. Results: Participants generated 68 characteristics of Black men’s depression which were reflected within five conceptual clusters: (1) physical states; (2) emotional states; (3) diminished drive; (4) internal conflicts; (5) communication with others; and (6) social pressures. Using a content analysis approach, we found that items comprising the “social pressures” cluster were not reflected in any common depression scales. Conclusions: Findings from this study illustrate the similar and divergent pathways in which Black men express depressed mood. Furthermore, concept mapping results also yield a novel opportunity for culturally informed scale development in future research.
AB - Background: Despite cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage and risk factors, Black Americans have a lower prevalence of depression than whites. Given the emerging focus of depression as a public mental health crisis, culturally informed depression measures and scale development techniques are needed to better alleviate the mental health burden of socially marginalized populations. Yet, for Black men, race- and gender-related factors that position emotional vulnerability as a sign of weakness, may potentially mask the timely identification of mental health needs in this population. Thus, we address these gaps by employing a stakeholder-driven, community-engaged process for understanding Black men’s depression experience. Methods: We use concept mapping, a structured mixed methods approach, to determine how stakeholders of Black men’s health conceptualize their depressive symptoms. Thirty-six stakeholders participated in a three-phase concept mapping study conducted in 2018. Three separate stakeholder groups were engaged for this study, including Black men, Black women, and primary care providers. Results: Participants generated 68 characteristics of Black men’s depression which were reflected within five conceptual clusters: (1) physical states; (2) emotional states; (3) diminished drive; (4) internal conflicts; (5) communication with others; and (6) social pressures. Using a content analysis approach, we found that items comprising the “social pressures” cluster were not reflected in any common depression scales. Conclusions: Findings from this study illustrate the similar and divergent pathways in which Black men express depressed mood. Furthermore, concept mapping results also yield a novel opportunity for culturally informed scale development in future research.
KW - Black men
KW - Concept mapping
KW - Depression
KW - Measurement
KW - Mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108844534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85108844534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-021-11137-5
DO - 10.1186/s12889-021-11137-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 34158011
AN - SCOPUS:85108844534
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 21
JO - BMC public health
JF - BMC public health
IS - 1
M1 - 1194
ER -