Afrcan American Families (AAFAM) Stress and Resiliency Lab

The SOUL Study – The Study of Unions and Love in Racialized Contexts

Creating and maintaining positive and healthy romantic relationships is a critical component of overall health and well-being. Critical gaps remain about how racism, a multidimensional determinant of health, is an upstream risk factor of poor relationship health among African American couples. Despite these risks, there is also considerable heterogeneity in relationship experiences whereby all African American couples are not at risk of poor relationship health outcomes, warranting an examination of strengths and protective factors. To address these gaps, this project examines the culturally-relevant risk and protective factors of relationship health for African American couples.

Ethnic-Racial Dynamics in Black Families

Although there continues to be examinations of race-related risk and resilience factors among Black youths and adults, gaps remain in our understanding of how these factors interdependently operate among Black parents and their children.  Most of the work in this area has gathered the perspectives of either the youth or the adult without considering the transactional nature of their experiences (Hughes et al., 2016).  The current project uses data from a sample of 200 Black adolescents and their parents to (1) examine the associations between ethnic-racial dynamics among Black parent-child dyads, (2) assess the effects of ethnic-racial dynamics on their own and each other’s well-being, and (3) explore the influence of general family processes (e.g., relationship quality) and resources (e.g., social support and coping strategies) on the links between ethnic-racial dynamics and well-being.  

Champaign County Black Community Profile

The prevailing narrative surrounding Black individuals and communities is often deficit-centered. This is problematic as there are considerable strengths that go unacknowledged and underappreciated. By recognizing and amplifying the strengths of Black individuals, families, and communities, we can reinforce a positive self-image and promote a sense of agency, to promote racial healing within the Black community and beyond. This project aims to develop a comprehensive description of the strengths, characteristics, and resources of Black residents in Champaign County. The first phase of this project is a Community Strengths Assessment that includes synthesizing published and unpublished documents, records, and media (e.g., meeting minutes, reports, manuscripts, news, websites, brochures) that centers Black communities. The second phase is an intergenerational Oral History Project where high school students interview and collect oral histories from prominent Black leaders in Champaign County.