4 - (SYM 96) Development and Pilot Testing of a Single Session Intervention for Black Women Focused on SBW Emotion Beliefs and Emotion Regulation

Black women face unique intersectional challenges with regards to emotion regulation (ER) as they must both identify ways to effectively express emotions while considering the many spaces that dismiss and invalidate their experiences. The Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema, a cognitive system of self-control which has been linked to both avoidance and suppression of emotions, has also been linked to negative long-term mental health outcomes. Other research, however, suggests SBW cognitions can be protective as they evoke messages of cultural pride and self-efficacy. SBW beliefs therefore present a dialectic, suggesting it could be useful for an intervention to connect SBW beliefs to ER strategies, focusing on validating and exploring the affective outcomes of endorsing SBW beliefs. This project adapted Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) ER skills to fit with the experiences and values of Black women, using focus group methodology. Materials were built into a Single-Session Intervention (SSI) to be delivered by a clinician in 60-minutes. The intervention focused on 1) The Biopsychosocial model incorporating identity stress 2) Addressing bodily needs to reduce emotional vulnerability 3) The SBW dialectic 4) Acting to change emotions. We hypothesized that after the intervention participants would experience improvements in beliefs about emotion malleability and perceptions of control, which will fuel reductions in avoidance and suppression of emotions along with additional clinical outcomes. Black women aged 18-45 (n = 30) who endorsed experiencing racial stress, emotion dysregulation, as well as being interested in therapy, were recruited to participate in a pilot trial. After receiving the SSI participants completed 1 week of daily diary surveys assessing mood and skill use and a 1-week follow-up assessment. Methodology to develop the SSI, as well as clinical outcomes from the pilot (i.e., emotion beliefs, hope, self-efficacy, perceptions of control, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Problems, Depression, and Anxiety) will be presented.