Superwoman Schema, Stigma, Provider Characteristics, and Religion: Factors that Influence Mental Health Service Utilization among African American Women (2015)

Undergraduates: Millicent Robinson, Dr. Cheryl Woods Giscombe and Dr. Dana Carthron

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Giscombe
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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A national study conducted by the California Black Women¿¿¿s Health Project (2003), revealed that 60% of African American women experience symptoms of depression, but only 12% of African American women seek help and/or treatment (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2009). As illustrated by the previous statistics, African American women experience significant disparities with mental health. There are many factors that may play a role in this phenomena. The Superwoman Schema (SWS) Conceptual Framework was developed in order to understand health and stress disparities among African American women through a culturally relevant perspective. African American women endorsing this framework exhibit characteristics such as perceiving obligations to project strength, suppressing emotions, maintaining independence, and prioritizing caregiving over self-care. Through the application of this culturally relevant conceptual framework, the current project aimed to assess barriers and facilitators to mental health service utilization among African American women to discover existent trends as well as attitudes in order to contribute to the development of culturally relevant practices and services for African American women. Themes and subthemes such as the SWS conceptual framework, stigma, spirituality, and (culturally) sensitive providers were identified as relevant factors contributing to mental health service utilization among African American women.