Black mothers socialize their daughters to embody the strong Black woman (SBW) schema to help them navigate gendered racist oppression. While research indicates that ascribing to the SBW schema offers Black women psychosocial benefits (e.g., increased self-esteem), identifying with the SBW schema has been linked to several negative psychological outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression, and stress). Considering the evidenced negative implications associated with identifying with the SBW schema on Black women's mental health, the current study had three aims: (1) investigate the socialization messages Black women received about strong Black womanhood, (2) explore the extent to which they identified with these messages, and (3) assess the implications of this socialization on Black women's functioning. To address these aims researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 Black college women (Mage = 20.09; SD = 1.04). For this manuscript, we extracted data pertaining to aim one and analyzed this data using a consensual qualitative research (CQR) data approach. Findings revealed messages Black women were given about strong Black womanhood (i.e., know your worth, depend on yourself, overcome societal barriers, little to no messages about strong Black womanhood, and additional responses) and illuminated behaviors mothers modeled that exemplified strength (i.e., self-sufficient, preserving, caretaking, and additional responses). Findings derived from this study have the potential to inform clinical intervention with Black women and, more specifically, provide insight as to how clinicians may work with Black women to mitigate the impact of the SBW schema on their mental health.

In the U.S., Black mothers experience fetal and infant mortality at alarming rates when compared to White and Latina mothers (Gregory, Drake, & Martin, 2018). The intent of this study was to examine perinatal loss among Black American women and to expand understanding of how the Strong Black Woman (SBW) ideology influences bereavement. Data were gathered from (N=109) Black American bereaved mothers. It was predicted that endorsement of differing aspects of the SBW would moderate the relationship between perinatal grief and psychosocial outcomes (i.e., depression and post-traumatic growth). Regression analyses, alongside a bootstrapping procedure via PROCESS (Hayes, 2017), were used to evaluate the moderation models. Results yielded a model of perinatal bereavement among Black American mothers. In particular, reliance on spirituality moderated the relationship between perinatal grief and depression, while the obligation to manifest strength moderated the relation between perinatal grief and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Neither moderated moderation model was significant. The model provided significant implications for clinical practice and intervention.

The strong Black woman (SBW) schema is a racialized gender role characterized by emotional control, independence, and self-sacrifice. Little is known about how internalization of the SBW schema may influence Black women's romantic relationships. The current study explored the link between endorsement of the SBW schema and relationship flourishing through gender role conflict (the discrepancy between societally prescribed and personally enacted gender roles) and considered how these associations may vary based relationship type (queer or non-queer). One hundred eighty-eight Black women (Mage = 32.28, SD = 11.52 years) completed measures assessing SBW schema endorsement, gender role conflict (GRC), and relationship flourishing, as well as opened-ended questions about their romantic relationship. A mixed-method approach was used, and data was analyzed using a mediated moderation analysis utilizing PROCESS Macro and the thematic analysis method. Results revealed a significant negative correlation between the SBW schema and relationship flourishing. Additionally, GRC did not mediate the association between SBW schema and relationship flourishing, nor was that association moderated by relationship type. However, post-hoc analyses demonstrated that external GRC moderated the association between SBW schema and relationship flourishing. Themes revealed that participants experienced gender role conflict in their relationships both interpersonally (i.e., desire for boundaries, feeling disregarded, feeling prioritized, causing disagreements, and providing support) and intrapersonally (i.e., feeling unsupported, feeling emotionally and physically depleted, and feeling disconnected).

Using intersectionality as a guiding framework, the current study examined how gendered and racialized perceptions of Black women as "strong Black women" may be shaped by colorism. This experimental study sampled 314 Black and White participants from the community. Participants were presented with a vignette that described a Black woman coping with workplace stress in one of two ways, one congruent with strong Black womanhood (emotional restriction) and one incongruent with strong Black womanhood (emotional vulnerability), alongside the image of a light skin or dark skin Black woman. Then, participants were asked to rate how "strong" they perceived the woman in the vignette to be. A factorial ANCOVA was conducted to test how perceptions of the woman in the vignette varied based on her emotional response to workplace stress and skin tone, while controlling for perceptions of likability and competence. As hypothesized, we observed that participants perceived the woman responding to workplace stress with emotional restriction as stronger than the women who responded with emotional vulnerability. However, skin tone, nor the interaction between emotional response and skin tone had a bearing on participants' perceptions. There were also no differences in perceptions based on participant race. Through its intersectional framing, this study challenges scholars and practitioners to consider how the interplay between racism, sexism, and colorism shapes how Black women are seen by others and, in turn, how they may see themselves as strong Black women. Implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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