Big, Black, and Strong: Does Identification with the Strong Black Woman Archetype Strengthen the Association Between Racism-related Stress and Emotional Eating?

Despite extensive research on the adverse impact of racism-related stressors on the health and well-being of people of color (Broman, Mavaddat, & Hsu, 2000; Carter, 2007; Klonoff, Landrine, & Ullman, 1999; Noh & Kaspar, 2003; Pieterse, Carter, & Ray, 2013; Utsey & Payne, 2000), little is known about the influence of racism-related stressors on the eating behaviors of Black women. The present study extended the limited literature on this topic by examining the possible contribution of cultural attitudes associated with the Strong Black Women archetype on the relation between racism-related stressors and emotional eating behaviors. A sample of self-identified Black women (N = 211) was recruited from various colleges and universities across the U.S. Participants completed one of three counterbalanced surveys, which included the Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief Version (IRRS-B; Utsey, 1999), the Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4; Cohen et al., 1983), the Strong Black Woman Archetype Scale (SBWAS; Woods, 2013), and the Emotional Eating Scale (EES; Arnow et al., 1995). The full regression model, with weight and perceived level of stress as covariates, accounted for 4.0% of the variance in emotional eating behaviors, as measured by the EES. As a covariate, participant weight was the only significant predictor of emotional eating accounting for 3.5% of the variance. Contrary to prediction, racism-related stressors did not account for significant variance in emotional eating behaviors. Post-hoc analysis revealed a significant association between racism-related stress and perceived stress on identification with the SBW archetype. The implications for working therapeutically with Black women are discussed