Date of Award
Spring 2-26-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Counseling & Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Donna San Antonio
Second Advisor
Dr. Louise Michelle Vital
Third Advisor
Dr. Hardin L. K. Coleman
Abstract
There is a dearth of research in general and qualitative research specifically about the mental health experience of resource-poor Black adolescents living in Boston. This has implications for the field in terms of how adolescents experiencing mental health issues can be supported and how professionals can create more useful mental health treatment. Drawing from the theoretical lens of critical race theory and more specifically, intersectionality, this hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry examined the ways in which experiencing multiple levels of inequality, especially from racism and poverty, affected a Black adolescent’s mental health. Eleven adolescents were interviewed via Zoom. Six major findings included: (a) community connections, (b) grief and loss, (c) systemic struggles as a society in media, (d) screen time, (e) mental health service utilization, and (f) systemic racism (i.e., George Floyd’s murder and Black Lives Matter protests on the mental health of Black adolescents). Through reflections, including their pre- and post-COVID-19 mental health, multiple themes and subthemes emerged to create a patchwork of the stories of 11 young lives.
Recommended Citation
DiSpagna, Paulette, "Centering Black Resource-Poor Adolescent Voices: A Critical Phenomenological Study of Lived Mental Health Struggles While Enduring the Covid-19 Pandemic" (2025). Counseling and Psychology Dissertations. 2.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/counseling_psychology_dissertation/2
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Counseling Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, School Psychology Commons, Social Justice Commons
