Coping and adaptation in older black women

The goal of this study was to describe the coping styles used by a sample of well-educated, achieving, aging African-American women and a comparison group of White women to investigate the degree to which they exhibited successful psychological adaptation to aging. The sources of data for the project were oral history transcripts included in the collection of the Schlesinger Library of Radcliffe College on the History of Women in America. These transcripts were coded for five classes of variables. Information about African American women were obtained from oral history transcripts collected for the Black Women's Oral History Project conducted by the Schlesinger Library. The comparison sample fo oral histories from 30 educated, successful White women were coded using the same methods. These oral histories were obtained from existing oral history interviews deposited atthe Schlesinger Library that were conducted to document the lives of trade unionists, physicians, family planning advocates, educators, suffragists, and other activists. The indices of coping and adaptation include reported coping style in handling difficult incidents, overall level of adaptation, and level of adaptation to widowhood and retirement. The data set includes information on the participant's background, early adult life experiences, later adult life experiences, personality, and current life situation. The Murray Center has paper data in the form of data summary sheets and written telephone interview data where information in the oral history transcripts was incomplete. There are also photocopied pages of critical incidents and life situations from the oral history transcripts. The Murray Center also has interview schedules and computer-accessible data. The oral history transcripts for both samples are available at the Schlesinger Library.