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Religious coping is fundamental among African Americans, and it can influence psychiatric symptoms. This study examines if positive and negative religious coping mediate the relation between cumulative stress and recent life stressors and depressive symptoms among African American women with past histories of intimate partner violence and suicidality. Mediation analysis that employed bootstrapping was performed in a sample of 68 low-income African American women. Findings revealed that negative but not positive religious coping mediated the links between cumulative stress and recent life stressors and depressive symptoms, suggesting that women exposed to stressors struggle more with their religious faith, which related to increased depressive symptoms. Conclusions pertaining to the benefits of culturally-responsive interventions that address negative religious coping are discussed., Author(s): Ivonne Andrea Florez [sup.1] , Natalie N. Watson-Singleton [sup.2] , Jennifer P. Wootten [sup.1] , Rachel Hershenberg [sup.1] , Avante J. Smack [sup.3] , Sarah E. Dunn [sup.1] , [...]

Traditionally, hospital medicine services have been dominated by the physician and hospital team, with significant barriers to patient- and family-centered care. This article offers principles and associated strategies to reduce those barriers and guide implementation of systemically informed, collaborative, and culturally responsive patient-and family-centered care provided by hospitalist care teams, especially regarding collaborative decision-making for treatment and discharge planning. Such an approach is associated with reduced lengths of stay and hospital costs and lowered rates of medical errors and mortality. It also is linked to improved patient and family cooperation and adherence; enhanced quality of care and clinical outcomes; and increased levels of satisfaction among health care professionals, patients, and families. Such care uses resources wisely and is effective and ethical. We hope articulating and illustrating these principles and strategies will facilitate efforts to shift the health care culture from being physician-centered to truly team-, patient-, and family-centered. Keywords: systemically informed, hospital medicine, patient-/family-centered care, medical culture, communication, The last 20 years have witnessed the growth of hospital medicine services (HMSs; Chadaga et al., 2012), which are optimal when provided by interprofessional teams. Unfortunately, patients and families often [...]

Anti‐Black racism including structural racism and racism‐related disparities have come to the foreground in recent years with the increasingly frequent and brutal police killings of innocent African Americans, the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on the Black community, and the effectiveness of the Black Lives Matter movement. There have been calls to action to ensure cultural effectiveness of couples and family therapy for African Americans. As one response to these calls, this article provides recommendations for culturally humble and anti‐racist couple and family interventions. These best practices focus on the necessity of embracing a systemic stance and a strengths‐based culturally responsive lens when assessing and intervening with African American couples and families. They focus on the need for therapists to be intentional about and consistent in engaging in self‐exploration and taking the necessary steps to be not just competent but also capable. The final set of best practices detailed relate to assessing and intervening using a strengths‐based approach in a culturally responsive, anti‐racist, and socially attuned fashion. The article concludes with recommendations for couple/family therapists to develop a critical consciousness, engage in anti‐racist practices, and address oppression while advancing healing and liberation, all of which are essential to ensuring the resilience and well‐being of African American couples and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health service psychology has been slow to create a leadership mentoring model. A survey of former chairs of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students and American Psychological Association's Committee on Early Career Psychologists revealed that: (a) early career leaders had at least one mentor who explicitly supported their leadership development; (b) these mentoring relationships were both formal and informal; (c) peer mentoring was invaluable for fostering success; and (d) mentorship relationships were critical in preparing respondents for their roles. A preliminary framework and associated guidance for leadership mentoring in psychology is proposed.

Intimate partner violence (IPV), an international public health matter, is linked to psychological distress including suicidal behavior. Despite the noted sequelae associated with IPV, many individuals display resilience in the face of IPV exposure. This study examines two potential protective factors in the IPV-suicidal ideation link, namely existential and religious well-being, in a sample of African American women. Low-income, African American, female suicide attempters who were abused by a partner within the previous year (N = 111) were administered the Conflicts Tactics Scale-2, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation. Mediational models testing indirect effects through the bootstrapping method revealed that the total effect of IPV on suicidal ideation was positive and significant, confirming suicidal ideation as a consequential outcome of IPV among African American women. This effect was mediated by existential well-being; however, religious well-being was not a significant mediator, suggesting that existential well-being serves a unique protective role in the IPV-suicidal ideation relation. The results provide additional support for the well-known positive effects of existential well-being on mental health among African American samples. Culturally-informed, meaning-making interventions to enhance existential well-being appear to be effective in reducing suicidal ideation in this population., Author(s): Nicole L. Fischer[sup.1] , Dorian A. Lamis[sup.2] , Marissa N. Petersen-Coleman[sup.3] , Carla S. Moore[sup.4] , Huaiyu Zhang[sup.5] , Nadine J. Kaslow[sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Psychology, Marymount [...]