Kudos to Amnazo Muhirwa, PhD student, her sponsor Devon Noonan, associate professor, and her entire team for the submission of her Sigma Theta Tau International application entitled: “Stress Cardiovascular Disease and the Superwoman Schema." This proposal requests funding for a one-year period with a project start date of June 1, 2021.

Objective: Examine the relationship between community stressors and Ideal Cardiovascular Health (ICH) and the moderating effect of the Superwoman Schema.

Subject Population: Our target population will consist of rural African American women, ages 30-50 years old from Duke Primary Care rural clinics.

Research Design: A mixed method design will be used to provide a comprehensive understanding of stress and cardiovascular wellbeing among rural African American women.

Instrument: Self-report data on diet and physical activity will be combined with Duke Health System electronic health record (EHR) data to conceptualize cardiovascular wellbeing. Further, the Giscombe Superwoman Schema Questionnaire will be used to measure Superwoman Schema (SWS) and self-reported survey will be utilized to capture community stress.

Procedure: The proposed study will conduct a retrospective analysis utilizing EHR patient portal records from Duke Primary Care rural in North Carolina combined with self-report data on diet and physical activity to examine the association between community stress factors (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood safety). Further, we will explore the moderating effects of the SWS on this relationship and describe the community stress experience of rural African American woman.