“I Believe All of Us Together Can Raise My Child”: Understanding the Familial Network, Social Support Strategies, and Communication Resilience of Single Black Mothers

Abstract

Almost a quarter of all U.S. children live in a one-parent household (23%), more than three times the national average of children from any other country worldwide (Livingston, 2018). For decades, this percentage has risen, although the likelihood of being a single mother is not equal across racial and social-economic status demographics. More than two-thirds of all Black working mothers are single mothers (HHS, 2017). Research exploring social support and single mothers has laid a foundation for the positive influence that family networks have on single-parent families. I interviewed 40 single Black mothers to understand the connection between social support messages and the enactment of resilience via familial communication. Using thematic analysis, I identified the familial networks, requested social support, and helpful social support messages reported by single Black mothers. Then, I examined the resilience triggers and resilience processes the mothers outlined. Following the identification of these constructs, I utilized thematic co-occurrence analysis, an advanced qualitative analysis method, to identify seven ubiquitous themes and three theoretical relationships. These results illuminate how single Black mothers utilized supportive communication as a viable resource to build resilience in response to clusters of disruptions. By providing social support, family members assisted mothers in activating their resilience process and responding to their triggers. This familial communication was so important that this process via supportive communication provided participants with access to each other resilience processes. These findings extend scholarly understanding of single Black mothers, familial resilience, and the bridge between social support and resilience communication.