Hypertension is a major chronic health problem that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. African Americans disproportionately suffer from the morbidity and mortality of hypertension-related illnesses. The purpose of this comparative project was to determine the impact of peer support educational workshops as an avenue for lifestyle modification, using changes in blood pressure (BP) before and after participation. The target population consisted of 64 African Americans with hypertension in Brooklyn NY, aged 20 to 65 years old. BP measurements were taken within 1 month before and after participating in a weekly peer support educational workshop facilitated by designated healthcare providers. The health belief model, using the tenets of lifestyle modification, societal support and health education, was used to guide the study. Demographic data were collated and categorized, considering numeric values used to represent age, income level, and education. Normality testing of the study variables was performed to ensure that the data followed a normal distribution. The study variables included the pre- and post-test systolic and diastolic BP. A t test was used in order to compare the 2 groups, revealing a statistically lower significant score from African Americans who participated than those who did not. African Americans who adhered to peer support educational regimens in the workshops revealed a statistically significant lower diastolic BP than those who did not participate. This research contributes to social change by providing evidence-based recommendations that government and health care professionals may use to create strategic plans to promote the well-being of individuals and communities.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Research indicates that negative affective traits (e.g., depression) are predictors and consequences of excess adiposity. Given that racial minorities and positive affective traits have been underrepresented in past investigations, more prospective studies are needed which examine multiple affective traits in relation to obesity in these populations. The objective of the current study was to investigate the prospective, bidirectional associations between multiple affective traits and multiple adiposity indicators in African Americans using data from the African American Health (AAH) study. The AAH study is a prospective cohort study of African Americans aged 49-65 years at baseline (N = 998). The longest follow-up period in the current study was 9 years (N = 579). Self-reported and measured body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) and body fat percent (BF%) were used as adiposity indicators. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the 11-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and anxiety was assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) scale. Positive affective traits were assessed with the Vitality subscale of the Short Form-36 and Positive Affect subscale from the CES-D. Latent variable path analysis, a structural equation modeling technique, was conducted. Although fit statistics indicated that the models fit the data (RMSEA < .06), examination of the structural paths revealed that the CES-D and GAD-2 were not predictors or consequences of self-reported BMI, measured BMI, or BF% (ps > .05). Likewise, Vitality and CES-D Positive Affect were not related to any adiposity indicator (ps > .05). The results of this prospective cohort study suggest that affective traits are not predictors or consequences of adiposity in middle-aged African Americans and that this group may require obesity prevention or intervention programs with little to no emphasis on affective traits. Possible explanations for the current results include ethnic differences in the mechanistic pathways between affective traits and adiposity.

Health disparities among rural African Americans include disproportionately higher morbidity and mortality rates associated with cardiovascular disease. Interventions designed to decrease cardiovascular risk can potentially improve health outcomes among rural, underserved communities. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of a cardiovascular health promotion intervention among rural African Americans. An experimental study randomized by church clusters was done in two rural counties in northern Florida. A total of 229 participants, 114 in the intervention group and 115 in the control group, were recruited from twelve rural African American churches. The pretest-posttest design included instruments chosen to measure cardiovascular health habits and knowledge as well as changes in produce consumption, dietary fat intake, and exercise using the major components of the Integrated Model of Behavioral Prediction: intentions, norms, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Linear mixed model was the statistical test used to detect the program effects. Participants who received the intervention had significant increases in scores for the cardiovascular health habits (p < .01) and health knowledge (p < .01) variables compared with the control group. There were also significant group differences regarding intentions to increase produce consumption (p < .01) and reduce dietary fat intake (p < .01). The cardiovascular health program was associated with other statistically significant results including produce consumption attitudes (p = .01) and norms (p < .01), dietary fat attitudes (p = .04) and norms (p < .01), and exercise attitudes (p < .01). There were also significant results found for perceived behavioral control/self-efficacy regarding increasing produce consumption (p < .01), reducing dietary fat intake (p = .03), and increasing exercise (p = .01). Compared to the control group, the cardiovascular health promotion intervention was effective in fostering positive health effects for most of the variables measured. The findings supported the theoretical framework used for guiding the study, the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction Nurse-led health promotion interventions within church settings can be effective means for reducing overall cardiovascular risk and health disparities among rural African American populations. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis focuses on the rise to prominence, during the 1980s and 1990s, of a coterie of African American intellectuals associated with the powerful networks and institutions of the New Right. It situates the relatively marginalised phenomenon of contemporary black conservatism within its historical context; explores the nature and significance of the racial discourse it has generated; and probes the intellectual character of the individuals whose contributions to this strand of black thought have stood out over the past three decades. Engaging the writings of the major black conservative figures and the literature of their supporters and critics, I then evaluate their ideas in relation to the key debates concerning race and class in American life debates that have centred, for the most part, on the vexed issues of affirmative action, poverty and public education. In illuminating this complex, still largely misunderstood phenomenon, this thesis reveals the black conservatives as more than a group but as individuals with their own distinctive arguments.

Thesis (Dr. P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: B, page: 7288. Adviser: Michael W. Ross. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-61).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 15, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-100).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 396-404).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 140-165).

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The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-Third Edition (MCMI-III) currently ranks among the most commonly utilized personality tools. A review of the literature revealed that ethnic minorities tend to score higher on certain scales of the MMPI and MCMI compared to their White counterparts. The literature also indicated that acculturation level can serve as a moderator variable on overall performance on these measures. Most of the studies that examined racial/ethnic differences on the MCMI were conducted using the MCMI-I and MCMI-II. While many MCMI studies have explored racial differences, few studies have examined the impact of cultural factors on MCMI-III performance. To date, there is no empirical data on the impact of culture on the MCMI-III scores of Blacks from different cultural backgrounds. Given the significant increase in the number of Black immigrants to the United States especially from the Caribbean and Africa, Black Americans are becoming an even more diverse group, representing different cultures and nationalities. In the current study, the performance of African Americans (n = 52) and Caribbean Blacks (n = 77) were compared on the Antisocial, Narcissistic, Paranoid, and Delusional Disorder scales of the MCMI-III. Attempts were also made to compare Blacks in the current sample to the MCMI-III's development sample. Additionally, the impact of cultural variables was examined using the African American Acculturation Scaled-Revised (AAAS-R). Multivariate Analysis of Variance procedure revealed no significant difference in performance between the two groups on the select scales of the MCMI-III (p =.883). Additional analyses revealed significant difference between the two groups on the Compulsive scale: Caribbean Blacks obtained a higher mean (Cohen's d =.-50. F= 6.663, p = .011). Analyses comparing the Blacks in the current sample to the MCMI-III's development sample indicated the following: a) a significant difference between the two groups on the Antisocial, Narcissistic, and Delusional Disorder Scales and b) no significant difference between the two groups on the Paranoid scale (p = .559). Supplemental analysis revealed moderate association between the Paranoid and Delusional Disorder Scales of the MCMI-III and certain scales of the AAAS-R, implying both a degree of item overlap and similar item content.