Black History Month Research Series Week Two: Towards a More Holistic Conceptualization of Mental Health Among Black Populations

Overview of Week 2: Current thinking about mental health remains, for the most part, pathology based; however, the absence of disorder alone is insufficient to characterize mental health. Models of mental health that include wellbeing offer a more holistic approach to assessing and addressing mental health. Enhancing wellbeing potentially helps to buffer the negative impact of mental health problems and equip youth to better manage extraordinary circumstances they might face. This panel will offer holistic models of mental health that incorporate wellbeing and pathology along with highlights of socio-ecological factors associated with this broader conceptualization of mental health. In addition, this panel will highlight recent and forthcoming literature that summarize the interplay between racial discrimination, rumination, and health outcomes in efforts to highlight significance of rumination as an explanatory mechanism of the racial discrimination-adjustment link among Black communities.

Theda Rose, PhD is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Social Work. She earned her PhD in Social Work from the National Catholic School of Social Service, Catholic University, an MSW from Stony Brook University in New York, and a BA in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Using an asset-based approach, Dr. Rose’s current research interests center on 1) comprehensively assessing adolescent mental health, using wellbeing and pathology; 2) exploring contextual correlates of mental health and wellbeing among Black adolescents; 3) incorporating youth perspectives in research and intervention design and implementation; and 4) developing, adapting, and evaluating culturally relevant school- and community-based interventions that promote mental health, wellbeing, and positive youth development among Black adolescents.

Dr. Camille R. Quinn, PhD, AM, LCSW, LISW-S is an Associate Professor of Community Engagement Research in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan. She is a health criminologist scholar whose research focuses on investigating the health equity of African American adolescents and young adults at the intersections of race, gender, health, crime, and system involvement. Dr. Quinn is the Principal Investigator of a National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities R21, City of Columbus awards, and the MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge.

We will host our event on Thursday, February 15th, from noon to 1 pm through a virtual presentation. 

Register Here: https://unc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iuxegr5vQ56kzi3-k3dj9g