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. 2023 Oct:46:107-120.
doi: 10.1016/j.apnu.2023.04.008. Epub 2023 May 8.

A scoping review of the concept of resilience among African American women

Cheryl L Woods-Giscombe  1 , Karen Patricia Williams  2 , Jamie Conklin  3 , Adam Dodd  3 , Lilian Bravo  3 , Avery M Anderson  2 , Taleah Frazier  3 , Ganga Bey  3 , Millicent N Robinson  4 , Barbara J Warren  2 , Kathy D Wight  2 , Ashley S Felix  2 , Cindy M Anderson  2 , Darryl B Hood  2
Affiliations

A scoping review of the concept of resilience among African American women

Cheryl L Woods-Giscombe et al. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Resilience, thriving in the face of adversity, is a critical component of well-being in African American women. However, traditional definitions and approaches to operationalize resilience may not capture race- and gender-related resilience experiences of African American women. A more complete conceptualization of resilience may help facilitate future investigation of the mechanisms through which resilience influences health in this group. Our team conducted a scoping review of the literature published during twenty years, between 2000 and 2019, on resilience and health in African American women. We included a multidisciplinary set of databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Social Work Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Academic Search Premier). Using Covidence software a multi-step review process was conducted; 904 abstracts were initially screened for eligibility, 219 full-text studies were screened in stage two, and 22 remaining studies were reviewed for extraction. The studies reviewed revealed limitations of unidimensional approaches to conceptualizing/operationalizing resilience in African American women. The review highlighted culturally-relevant components of resilience including spirituality/religion, strength, survival, active coping, and social support. Findings highlight the importance of operationalizing resilience as a multidimensional construct so it can be optimally included in research designed to investigate the quality of life, cardiovascular risk, and other health outcomes in African American women.

Keywords: African American women; Coping; Health disparities; Resilience; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Prisma diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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