Exploring a relationship between race-related stress and emotional eating for collegiate Black American women

ABSTRACT

Four out of five Black women in the United States, over the age of 20 years, meet criteria for obesity. A critical determinant of pervasive health disparities, such as obesity, may be the Black woman’s sociocultural experience. One part of this experience is the stress that results from daily encounters with microaggressions. Research has been limited on the association of race-related stress with maladaptive health behaviors among Black women and at what age this association is visible. The aim of this exploratory cross-sectional study was to investigate whether perceived race-related stress was associated with an obesity risk behavior, emotional eating. One hundred and forty-nine collegiate Black American women from across the United States completed an anonymous online survey during the summer of 2014. Race-related stress was moderately correlated with emotional eating (r = 0.32, p < 0.001). However, a hierarchical linear regression revealed that the relationship between race-related stress and emotional eating remained significant after controlling for weight range and general perceived stress. Race-related stress contributed an additional 3.9 percent of the explained variance for emotional eating. Interventions for weight loss and management targeting young adult Black women must acknowledge how their perceived racial experience is linked to health behaviors and outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Black/African-American
• eating behaviors
• race-related stress
• women

Notes

1. Over two decades of research results have shown that a comprehensive understanding of racism and its relationship with well-being is rooted in the acknowledgment that racism is multi-dimensional (Gee 2002; Harrell 2000; Utsey and Ponterotto 1996). The current study focused on individual or personal experience with racism because the direct experience with racism and an individual’s perception of that direct experience is often the conscious building block for individuals to understand the impact of racism on their lives. This research also focused on emerging adults, who may not have the same level of awareness or direct interaction with other structural forms of racism.

2. The decision to include women currently enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) did not conflict with the current purpose of the research. Although students attending HBCUs are in the majority in classrooms and on the campus, they may still interact with staff and peers who do not identify as being persons of color in contexts such as jobs, internships, and national organizations.