Beyond the Strong Black Woman: the Protective Role of Black Identity Centrality against Depression in Young Black Women.

Black women often describe having to exercise an extensive amount of resilience and strength in both their professional and personal lives because of their intersecting racial and gendered identities. These expectations are captured by the Strong Black Woman schema, which, though rooted in perseverance and cultural pride, has been linked to elevated stress and depressive symptoms. While the Strong Black Woman schema emphasizes self-sacrifice and emotional suppression as coping strategies, Black identity centrality, the degree to which racial identity is core to one's self-concept, offers an alternative framework that may promote psychological well-being without the same costs. This paper moves beyond the Strong Black Woman framework by examining how Black identity centrality may serve as a protective factor against depression independent of Strong Black Woman-related pressures. Using survey data from 347 Black women ages 19-24, we investigate the relationship between Black identity centrality and depression. Even when accounting for sociodemographic variables and experiences of discrimination, findings highlight the potential of identity centrality to serve as a protective factor for psychological distress. These findings offer insight into how identity centrality may support mental health and reflect broader recent cultural shifts among Black women prioritizing rest, self-preservation, and resistance to harmful identity ideologies.