Citation

Stevenson HC, Jemmott LS, Jemmott JB, White SL, Talley LM, Chittamuru D, Kim S, Icard LD, O'Leary A. Psychol. Men Masc. 2021; 22(4): 579-591.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/men0000359

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Developing culturally responsive interventions to improve the health of Black males is a growing field. This study assessed the impact of a culturally responsive barbershop-based violence retaliation risk reduction intervention (Shape-Up) for emerging adult African American men. Using RECAST (Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory), this intervention included racial literacy protective and risk factors in its curriculum conceptualization, measurement, and delivery. Participants included 618 heterosexual cis-gender-identified African American men aged from 18 to 24 years old and used randomized control trial (RCT) methodology. Compared to a control group targeting sexual risk reduction, the retaliation reduction intervention successfully reduced violence behavior up to 3 months postintervention, through mediated mechanisms of reducing hypermasculinity beliefs and increasing Black manhood vulnerability beliefs. This study supports research on how culturally responsive theory-based interventions can increase the likelihood of positive health outcomes in communities of color. Developers of men's health interventions should consider the importance of both countering negative masculine identity stereotypes and promoting healthy gender-racialized narratives before expecting to improve Black young adult males' receptivity to psychological and behavior health change education and coping strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Language: en