3278 Gendered racism, psychological distress, and the strong Black woman

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Black women experience discrimination that targets their intersecting gender and ethnic identities, termed gendered racism (Essed, 1991). The gendered racism Black women experience has been linked to negative mental health outcomes (Thomas etal., 2008). The ‘strong Black woman’ is a cultural symbol of strength depicting the Black woman as unwavered by hardships, such as gendered racism (Shorter-Gooden & Washington, 1996). However, recent research suggests that belief in the strong Black woman cultural construct is associated with negative mental health outcomes (Watson & Hunter, 2015). The goals of the current study were to (1) replicate previous findings suggesting that experiences with gendered racism is positively correlated with psychological distress, (2) replicate previous findings suggesting that belief in the strong Black woman construct is positively correlated with psychological distress, and (3) explore how experiences with gendered racism and belief in the strong Black woman construct might interact to predict distress. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A national sample of 112 Black women completed an online survey via MTurk. Survey measures included the Gendered Racial Microaggressions Scale, Strong Black Woman Cultural Construct Scale, and Psychological Distress Scale. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Pearson correlation revealed that experiences with gendered racism was positively correlated with psychological distress, r = 0.23, p = .02. Pearson correlation also revealed that belief in the strong Black woman cultural construct was positively correlated with psychological distress, r = 0.39, p < .001. Multiple linear regression revealed an interaction between experiences with gendered racism and belief in the strong Black woman construct (β = -0.18, p = .04) that predicted psychological distress, R2 = .20, F(3,108) = 8.63, p < .01. Namely, for those with high belief in the strong Black woman construct, experiences with gendered racism did not predict distress, β = -0.31, t = -0.29, p = .78. However, for those with low belief in the construct, experiences with gendered racism positively predicted distress, β = -2.57, t = 2.31, p = .02. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The results underscore the harmful effects of gendered racism and gendered racial stereotypes on Black women’s mental health outcomes. Striving to appear as the strong Black woman is not likely to help Black women overcome daily hardships. In fact, belief in the strong Black woman construct is likely to add extra difficulties.