Ambitions and Stories of Young People Inspiring Resilience and Engagement (A.S.P.I.R.E) Project
The objectives of the ASPIRE program are to facilitate Black youth’s exploration of their strengths and resilience, foster socio-cultural connectedness, and encourage youth to imagine a future filled with unlimited possibilities. The ASPIRE program incorporates storytelling activities (e.g., vision-boarding, identity wheel) that encourage youth educational aspirations and a sense of belonging into the curriculums of an existing youth program in the Champaign-Urbana area. This project engages and illuminates the voices and experiences of middle school Black boys and girls and co-creates a youth–centered space of healing and hope.
Ethnic and Racial Dynamics Study
To better understand the influence of ethnic-racial dynamics (e.g., racial discrimination, racial/ethnic socialization, and racial/ethnic identity) on the wellbeing of African Americans the transactional nature between parents and children were observed. The current project goals are to 1) examine the associations between ethnic-racial dynamics between Black parent-child dyads, 2) assess the effects of ethnic-racial dynamics on their own and each other’s well being, and 3) explore the influence of general family processes (e.g., relationship quality) and resources (e.g., social support and coping strategies) on the links between ethnic-racial dynamics and well-being.
Parental involvement contributes to how their children cope with interpersonal stress, especially when considering daily interactions at school or in the neighborhood. Using the daily diary approach to study families from diverse backgrounds, we look to explore day-to-day parent-adolescent interactions and adolescents’ management of interpersonal stress.
Community Healing and Resistance through Storytelling (C-HeARTS) Project
Healing on a community level has the potential to promote resilience and foster relationships that can help sustain healing. A group of interdisciplinary scholars and community members, whose focus centers on the well-being of African Americans are exploring the concept of community healing through storytelling across various African American community groups within the Champaign-Urbana area. The goals of this project are to 1) build sustainable partnerships with community members, scholars, and professionals interested in African American community healing; 2) develop a model/framework of community healing through storytelling; and 3) create and capture the perceptions and process of community healing through digital storytelling.
PREVIOUS PROJECTS
Student Experiences with Race-Related Content in Social Media Project
We are examining students’ experiences with race-related content in social media and their effects on subsequent mental health outcomes (i.e., psychological distress, depressive and anxiety symptoms) and communicative behavior (e.g., interpersonal discussion with family and friends, help-seeking) including civic engagement – among a diverse group of college students. Specifically, the proposed mixed methods project seeks to utilize focus groups, survey approaches, and experimental methods to explore the role of communication in coping strategies when media (particularly social media) content portrays racial injustices and elicits vicarious racism experiences.
Barriers and Facilitators to Mental Health Help-Seeking among African American Youth and their Families: A Systematic Review Study
African American youth are disproportionately exposed to social stressors such as racial discrimination that are linked to deleterious mental health outcomes; yet, they are significantly less likely to utilize mental health services and more likely to prematurely leave when they do enter treatment compared to their Caucasian peers. Negative beliefs about mental health services stemming from cultural mistrust between clients and providers and mental health stigma have been shown to be associated with such mental health treatment disparities. We are systematically reviewing the literature to identify the barriers and facilitators that influence mental health help-seeking behaviors and outpatient service use among this population to better understand what motivates and discourages formal mental health service use.
Exploring Variations of the Racial Discrimination and Mental Health Association in the Parent-Child Context
Stressors, such as racial discrimination, can become a shared experience for those within a family and put others at risk of negative health outcomes even when they do not directly experience the stressor. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we are exploring the intra- and interpersonal effects of racial discrimination on mental health among African American adolescents and their primary caregivers. We also aim to understand how these associations vary based on gender, socioeconomic status, and perceptions of family support.
Header Photo Credit: cheriejoyful via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
