Black History Month - In the News

IN BRIEF

In brief

Snapshots of some of the latest peer-reviewed research within psychology and related fields.

Monitor on Psychology February 2013, Vol 44, No. 2

Black women who were abused as children are more likely to experience adult-onset asthma compared with black women who experienced no child abuse, according to a Boston University study. Researchers followed more than 28,000 black women from 1995 to 2011 and found that the incidence of adult-onset asthma was more than 20 percent higher among women who had been abused as children. There was little evidence, however, that abuse during adolescence was associated with a greater risk for adult-onset asthma. (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, online Dec. 7)

• Black adults are more likely than white adults to skimp on sleep, and the sleep gap is especially wide for black professionals, according to a study out of the Harvard School of Public Health. Based on the results of a nationally representative survey of nearly 140,000 men and women, 29 percent of adults routinely get fewer than seven hours of sleep each night. Sleep skimping was more common among blacks in general than whites — 37 percent compared with 28 percent — but researchers found an even more noticeable difference between professionals: 42 percent of black professionals reported fewer than seven hours of sleep each night compared with 26 percent of white professionals. A sleep gap was not found among food and retail workers, and the overall racial gap was similar in men and women (American Journal of Epidemiology, online Sept. 9).

• White public school teachers in the New York metropolitan area appear to give more positive feedback to minority students than to white students for equal work, concludes research led by Rutgers University investigators. In the study of 113 white middle school and high school teachers in the New York metropolitan area, participants read and commented on a poorly written student essay. Results showed that the teachers displayed a "positive feedback bias," providing more praise and less criticism when they thought the essay was written by a minority student than by a white student. (Journal of Educational Psychology, online April 30)

• Cross-ethnic friendships may help youths feel safer, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The study looked at 536 Latino and 396 black sixth-graders from 66 classrooms in 10 urban U.S. middle schools in predominantly low-income, ethnically diverse neighborhoods. The students reported on the number of same- and cross-ethnic friends they had, how vulnerable they felt, the quality of their friendships and their ethnic identity. The researchers found that cross-ethnic friendships increased as the diversity of classrooms rose, and that the students who reported these friendships also felt less lonely, less victimized by peers and safer at school than those with only same-ethnic friendships (Child Development, online Sept. 23).
• • 
    Young adult blacks males, especially those with higher levels of education, are less likely to seek mental health services than their white counterparts, according to researchers at Michigan State University. The study examined two samples of national data—one collected in 1994 and 1995 consisting of 6,504 adolescents ages 13 to 18, and another collected in 2001, with 4,881 adults ages 18 to 26. The analysis also found that while whites who had previously used mental health services were more likely to receive additional services, the opposite was true for blacks. (Psychological Services, February)
  • • Black and Hispanic high school students who work part time are less likely to see their grades suffer than white non-Hispanic students who work part time, finds research out of the University of Michigan. In the study of nearly 600,000 students from around the country, researchers found that grade-point averages among white and Asian-American students dropped dramatically the more hours they worked, while the GPAs of Hispanic and black students showed less connection with hours worked. In addition, among high school students who worked long hours at a part-time job, black and Hispanic students from lower income households were less likely to smoke and drink than affluent white or Asian-American students who worked long hours (Developmental Psychology, online Jan. 14).

Black History Month ~ In the News

In brief

Snapshots of some of the latest peer-reviewed research within psychology and related fields.

Monitor on Psychology February 2012, Vol 43, No. 2

For African-Americans, perceived racism may cause mental health symptoms similar to trauma and could even lead to physical health disparities, according to a meta-analysis of 66 studies comprising 18,140 black adults in the United States. The study showed that blacks who reported experiencing more and very stressful racism were more likely to report depression and anxiety, which may contribute to the black population's high rate of hypertension (Journal of Counseling Psychology, Nov. 7).

FEATURE

Where's the progress?

Despite decades of work, the educational achievement gap between whites and ethnic minorities continues, said speakers at an APA convention session.

By Lea Winerman

Monitor Staff

October 2011, Vol 42, No. 9

Print version: page 28

On average, African-American and Latino students in the United States score lower on tests of academic achievement than their white counterparts. The troublesome data show up at every grade level and across the academic spectrum, from reading to math, and the disparities have frustrated educators for decades.

"We've spent more than half a century trying unsuccessfully to address the achievement gap," said Frank C. Worrell, PhD, at APA's 2011 Annual Convention. "I'm convinced that's because we're looking for one cause. And we need to look at many causes."

Worrell, a school psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke at a convention panel that examined new research on causes of the achievement gap—and potential solutions.

Other problems the speakers cited included:

• A lack of diversity in schools. Schools are more segregated now than at any time in the past 40 years, said Sandra Graham, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles. Such lack of diversity is bad for students, she argued, as it can make students in the minority group feel more vulnerable. It can also breed cultural mistrust and a sense of discrimination that could influence the achievement gap, she suggested.
• A failure to support immigrant students. These children come to the United States with a wide variety of educational, socioeconomic and other backgrounds and often with high goals, said Andrew Fuligni, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles. When given access to resources and opportunities, they can fare better than American-born students. "When some of them are not doing well, it's not because of lack of aspiration, it's because of lack of opportunities," he said.
• Too few leaders of color. "Until we get more African-American and Latino students through the academic pipeline, then our nation will fail to cultivate the human resources it needs for the 21st century," said A. Wade Boykin, PhD, of Howard University. Solving the problem will involve making classroom changes on many levels, he said, including improving students' confidence and belief that they can learn and succeed academically.
• A failure to support ESL students. Students whose native language is not English often fall behind because they are expected to learn math, history and other subjects before they fully know the language, said Samuel Ortiz, PhD, of St. John's University. These students would be better served, he argued, if schools taught them content in their native language while gradually transitioning into English-language classes.

The education gap is actually similar to the health gap in the United States, pointed out Steven Quintana, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In some ways the two mirror each other—minorities in this country generally have poorer health outcomes than whites. But, he said, health disparities often result from minorities having less contact with health professionals, while educational disparities result from "problematic contact" that might be harder to change.

FEATURE

And social justice for all

In her presidential address, Melba J.T. Vasquez outlined areas where psychological research has secured justice and called for continued work to safeguard health-care reform.

By Christopher Munsey

Monitor Staff

October 2011, Vol 42, No. 9

Print version: page 30

Psychologists' research has led to remarkable strides forward in social justice, helping us investigate and understand societal challenges, such as human and civil rights violations, effects of national disasters, terrorism and the importance of a sustainable environment, said APA President Melba J.T. Vasquez, PhD.

Among its many accomplishments, psychologists' research has led to the development of amicus briefs contributing to a decision prohibiting life without parole sentences for juveniles in non-capital criminal cases. It persuaded Florida to strike down a state law that prohibited gay and lesbian people from adopting children. It has convinced state and federal courts that overcrowding in state prisons was undermining inmates' mental health.

"These activities directly affect people's lives," Vasquez said.

Psychologists are continuing their work to promote social justice for all Americans by promoting health-care reform and working to ensure that the greater access to mental health services gained in recent years is preserved and more, she said.

"We know that not all members of our society have access to our services ... and that leads us to work in the future to make sure that those aspects of health care do not get undone," she said in her presidential address during APA's 2011 Annual Convention. "We hope you will help us with those efforts."

Now, as the nation struggles in tough economic times, APA must continue its longstanding commitment to social justice and responsibility, she said. Working for social justice is, after all, part of APA's mission and vision, as articulated in APA's strategic plan. Throughout APA's history, Vasquez said, its leaders have stepped forward to address social justice concerns. Among the most memorable examples of such leadership was the work by APA President Kenneth B. Clark, PhD, and Mamie Phipps Clark, PhD, which contributed to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional.

Today's need for advocacy on social justice issues runs just as deep, said Vasquez, pointing out:

• One in five American children lives in poverty and half a million are homeless, according to a 2008 report from the Foundation of Child Development.
• The income gap among whites, blacks and Hispanics significantly widened between 2005 and 2009, according to a Pew Research Center report. The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households, and 18 times that of Hispanic households, the report found.
• The United States lacks a national strategy to address how social and environmental factors result in shorter lifespans and chronic illness, according to the Institute of Medicine and National Academies of Science.

"We're living in a very challenging time," she said, calling on psychologists to be "proactive in addressing critical social problems, especially those to which our research speaks."

While describing how psychology research can further social justice, Vasquez conceded that APA's members don't always agree on whether, or how, the association should speak out on controversial issues. For example, some members have contested several APA reports, such as the findings on abortion and mental health, sexual orientation change efforts and same-sex marriage and parenting, she said. Heated debates also have broken out over APA's stance on the role of psychologists in the interrogation of terrorism detainees, proposed changes to the APA Model Licensing Act and the proposed seating of the four ethnic-minority psychological associations as voting members on the Council of Representatives, Vasquez said.

And while open, public debate is healthy for APA, Vasquez appealed for civility, too. "We can all work to turn down the temperature on outrage, and we can disagree passionately, but with respect and care," she said.

For more information on these articles and above mentioned research in the field of psychology go to: http://www.apa.org/monitor/index.aspx