You Are What You Eat: Affirming Podcast and Subjective Wellbeing among African American Women

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate whether intentional exposure to affirming messages via podcast would lead to improvement in subjective wellbeing in a sample of African American women. This two-part study used a mixed-methods design to measure subjective wellbeing using the Multicultural Quality of Life Index and a series of focus groups. During Phase 1, participants rated and discussed culturally relevant affirmations that informed the development of the podcast intervention used in Phase 2. The results revealed that stressors such as microaggressions, mental distress, and competing demands justified the need for support. Participants indicated that the podcast intervention was an enriching experience that illuminated the necessity of restorative practices that heal and revitalize the spirit. The intervention led to positive behavior change; and these results demonstrated the podcast benefits, suggesting that intentional exposure to positive messages may help some African American women cope with life stressors.

Keywords

African American women mental wellbeing positive affirmations podcast restorative care strong Black woman

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allen

A. M.

Thomas

M. D.

Michaels

E. K.

Reeves

A. N.

Okoye

Price

M. M.

Hasson

R. E.

Syme

S. L.

Chae

D. H.

(2019). Racial discrimination, educational attainment, and biological dysregulation among midlife African American women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 99, 225–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.09.001

Armitage

C. J.

(2016). A brief psychological intervention to protect subjective well-being in a community sample. Quality of Life Research, 25(2), 385–391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-015-1076-6

Banerjee

M. M.

Pyles

(2004). Spirituality: A source of resilience for African American women in the era of welfare reform. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 13(2), 45–70. https://doi.org/10.1300/J051v13n02_03

Boardman

J. D.

(2004). Stress and physical health: The role of neighborhoods as mediating and moderating mechanisms. Social Science & Medicine, 58, 2473–2483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.09.029

Boyd

A. S.

Wilmoth

M. C.

(2006). An innovative community-based intervention for African American women with breast cancer: The Witness project. Health & Social Work, 31(1), 77–80. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/31.1.77

Cascio

C. N.

O’Donnell

M. B.

Tinney

F. J.

Lieberman

M. D.

Taylor

S. E.

Strecher

V. J.

Falk

E. B.

(2016). Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(4), 621–629. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv136

Chandler

C. K.

Holden

J. M.

Kolander

C. A.

(1992). Counseling for spiritual wellness: Theory and practice. Journal of Counseling & Development, 71(2), 168–175. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1992.tb02193.x

Creswell

J. D.

Dutcher

J. M.

Klein

W. M.

Harris

P. R.

Levine

J. M.

(2013). Self-affirmation improves problem-solving under stress. PLoS One, 8(5), e62593. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062593

DeFrancisco

V. L.

Chatham-Carpenter

(2000). Self in community: African American Women's views of self-esteem. Howard Journal of Communications, 11(2), 73–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/106461700246634

10.

Domingue

A. D.

(2015). “Our leaders are just we ourself”: Black women college student leaders’ experiences with oppression and sources of nourishment on a predominantly white college campus. Equity & Excellence in Education, 48(3), 454–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1056713

11.

Donovan

R. A.

Galban

D. J.

Grace

R. K.

Bennett

J. K.

Felicié

S. Z.

(2013). Impact of racial macro- and microaggressions in Black women’s lives: A preliminary analysis. Journal of Black Psychology, 39(2), 185–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798412443259

12.

Donovan

R. A.

West

L. M.

(2015). Stress and mental health: Moderating role of the strong Black woman stereotype. Journal of Black Psychology, 41(4), 384–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798414543014

13.

Doody

Slevin

Taggart

(2013). Focus group interviews part 3: Analysis. British Journal of Nursing, 22(5), 266–269. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2013.22.5.266

14.

Ehret

P. J.

Sherman

D. K.

(2018). Integrating self-affirmation and implementation intentions: Effects on college student drinking. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(8), 633–644.

15.

Erwin

D. O.

Spatz

T. S.

Stotts

R. C.

Hollenberg

J. A.

(1999). Increasing mammography practice by African American women. Cancer Practice, 7(2), 78–85. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-5394.1999.07204.x

16.

Forsyth

D. M.

Poppe

Nash

Alarcon

R. D.

Kung

(2010). Measuring changes in negative and positive thinking in patients with depression. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 46(4), 257–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6163.2010.00253.x

17.

Gibson

L. M.

Parker

(2003). Inner resources as predictors of psychological well-being in middle-income African American breast cancer survivors. Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center, 10, 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/107327480301005s08

18.

Hamlet

J. D.

(2000). Assessing womanist thought: The rhetoric of Susan L. Taylor. Communication Quarterly, 48(4), 420–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370009385607

19.

Hsieh

H. F.

Shannon

S. E.

(2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687

20.

Johnson

(2015, December 28). 15 Self-affirmations to keep you focused and motivated throughout the new year. https://www.blackenterprise.com/15-self-affirmations-to-keep-you-focused-and-motivated-throughout-the-new-year/

21.

Krueger

R. A.

(1998). Analyzing and reporting focus group results (Vol. 6). SAGE Publications.

22.

Lewis

T. T.

Cogburn

C. D.

Williams

D. R.

(2015). Self-reported experiences of discrimination and health: Scientific advances, ongoing controversies, and emerging issues. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 11, 407–440. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032814-112728

23.

Mezzich

J. E.

Cohen

N. L.

Ruiperez

M. A.

Banzato

C. E.

Zapata-Vega

M. I.

(2011). The multicultural quality of life index: Presentation and validation. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 17(2), 357–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2010.01609.x

24.

Mezzich

J. E.

Ruipérez

M. A.

Pérez

Yoon

Liu

Mahmud

(2000). The Spanish version of the quality of life index: Presentation and validation. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 188(5), 301–305. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-200005000-00008

25.

Minaa

(2017, December 6). 10 Daily positive affirmations for when black lives forget that they matter. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10-daily-positive-affirma_b_8684766

26.

Nadal

K. L.

(2011). The racial and ethnic microaggressions scale (REMS): Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 470–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025193

27.

Nelms

(2016, April 24). 8 Affirmations that will remind you to love yourself. https://www.matermea.com/blog/self-care-affirmations-for-women

28.

Nelson

S. K.

Fuller

J. A.

Choi

Lyubomirsky

(2014). Beyond self-protection: Self-affirmation benefits hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(8), 998–1011. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214533389

29.

Prince

L. M.

(2008). Resilience in African American women formerly involved in street prostitution. ABNF Journal, 19(1), 31–36.

30.

Rivas-Drake

Syed

Umaña-Taylor

Markstrom

French

Schwartz

S. J.

Lee

(2014). Feeling good, happy, and proud: A meta-analysis of positive ethnic-racial affect and adjustment. Child Development, 85(1), 77–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12175

31.

Springer

Venkatakrishnan

Mohan

Nelson

Silva

Pirolli

(2018). Leveraging self-affirmation to improve behavior change: A mobile health app experiment. JMIR mhealth and uhealth, 6(7), e157. https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.9151

32.

Taylor

J. Y.

(2004). Moving from surviving to thriving: African American women recovering from intimate male partner abuse. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 18(1), 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1891/rtnp.18.1.35.28056

33.

Thomas

V. G.

Gaston

M. H.

Porter

G. K.

Anderson

(2016). Prime time sister circles^® II: Evaluating a culturally relevant intervention to decrease psychological and physical risk factors for chronic disease in mid-life African American women. Journal of the National Medical Association, 108(1), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2015.12.001

34.

Walton

Q. L.

Oyewuwo-Gassikia

O. B.

(2017). The case for #BlackGirlMagic: Application of a strengths-based, intersectional practice framework for working with Black women with depression. Affilia, 32(4), 461–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109917712213

35.

Warren-Findlow

(2006). Weathering: Stress and heart disease in African American women living in Chicago. Qualitative Health Research, 16, 221–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305278651

36.

Wiley

C. Y.

(2016). Don’t just give me that old time religion: The intersection of religion and mental well-being amongst African American women (doctoral dissertation). Howard University.

37.

Wojciszke

Baryla

Szymków-Sudziarska

Parzuchowski

Kowalczyk

(2009). Saying is experiencing: Affective consequences of complaining and affirmation. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 40(2), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.2478/s10059-009-0008-0