Symposia
Prevention
Olutosin Adesogan, B.S.
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Steven Beach, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Man-Kit Lei, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Justin Lavner, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Sierra Carter, Ph.D.
Professor
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia
Allen Barton, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Illinois urbana-champaign
Urbana, Illinois
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been an extreme source of stress for many individuals in the United States. This stress is likely magnified for Black individuals and families living in the United States as Black Americans were disproportionately impacted by pandemic-related stressors (e.g., morbidity, job-related stress), exacerbating existing health and societal inequities. Given these inequities, it is important to identify and explore potential sources of resilience that buffer the adverse effects of pandemic-related stress on Black individuals’ mental health. Here, we sought to understand whether experimentally-induced improvements in relationship functioning pre-pandemic had such effects. Specifically, we used longitudinal data from the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program, an intervention study designed to enhance family relationships among Black families in the rural South, to examine whether ProSAAF participation buffered the impacts of pandemic-related stress on changes in depressive symptoms through improving couple functioning.
Three hundred and twenty-five adults (145 intervention, 180 control) completed measures of depressive symptoms and couple functioning prior to and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a measure of COVID-19-related stress after the onset of the pandemic. Results indicated that, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants in ProSAAF experienced improved relationship functioning compared to participants in the control condition. Results also showed that individuals experiencing greater COVID-related stress reported greater increases in depressive symptoms. Constructed resilience, indexed by improvement in relationship functioning, significantly buffered the impact of pandemic stressors on changes in depressive symptoms, such that the effect of pandemic-related stress on depressive symptoms was weaker for those with more positive changes in their relationship relative to those with negative or no change in their relationship. This resulted in a significant indirect buffering effect of ProSAAF on the association between COVID-19-related stress and change in depressive symptoms through its effects on change in relationship functioning. These findings indicate that family-focused interventions that strengthen key relationships can create constructed resilience factors that buffer stress and promote wellbeing in the face of uncontrollable, unanticipated crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.