Racial Identity Clusters and Their Relation to Postpartum Maternal Functioning in Black Women

Racial identity, which is the degree that individuals define themselves regarding their racial group membership, may influence the mental well-being of Black adults. To gain an understanding of the role Black racial identity may have on postpartum mental health, the researchers performed a secondary data analysis to examine the relationship between six Black racial identity clusters (Low Race Salience, Assimilated and Miseducated, Self-Hating, Anti-white, Multiculturalist, and Conflicted) and postpartum maternal functioning in Black women living in Georgia.

Black women completed Cross's Racial Identity Scale, the Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning, and demographic questionnaires online via Qualtrics®.

A total sample of 116 self-identified Black postpartum women were included in the analysis. Women ranged in age from 18 to 41 years (M = 29.5 ± 5.3) and their infants were 1 to 12 months old (M = 5.6 ± 3.5). The majority of women were married/cohabitating with their partner (71%), had a college degree (53%), and employed (69%).

It was determined through Kruskal Wallis test, χ²(5) = 20.108, p < 0.05, that the women belonging to the Assimilated and Miseducated cluster had higher levels of maternal functioning when compared to the women in the Self-Hating and Anti-white clusters.

This study is novel in its exploration of the relationship between Black racial identities and postpartum maternal functioning. Findings support the need for further research with larger sample and cluster sizes to determine the relationship between racial identity and maternal functioning.