An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of acculturative stress and ethnic identity to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation in college students. The SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale, Multi-Group Ethnic Identity Measure, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Suicide Scale were administered to 452 college students. The authors found that acculturative stress and ethnic identity moderated the depression-suicide ideation relationship for African American but not European American college students. Given that vulnerability toward suicidal thoughts is increased for African American college students who report symptoms of depression accompanied by either high-acculturative stress or poor group identity, these culturally relevant factors should be included in protocol for suicide risk assessment.     

Perceptions of campus climate, academic efficacy and academic success among community college students: an ethnic comparison

The present study examined whether there are ethnic differences in perceptions of campus climate, social support, and academic efficacy among community college students, and whether student perceptions were associated with academic success. A total of 475 community college students completed a questionnaire that measured students’ perceptions of cultural congruity, college environment, mentoring, peer social life and academic self efficacy. Ethnic differences were observed, as African American and Caucasian students reported higher levels of cultural congruity than Asian students and higher academic self efficacy than Asian and Latino students. There were also ethnic differences in the relationship between the students’ perceptions and GPA. Cultural congruity and efficacy correlated with GPA among Latino students, academic efficacy correlated with GPA among Asian students, peer social support and college environment correlated with GPA among Caucasians, however, none of the perceptions scales correlated with GPA among African American students. The lack of relationship between academic efficacy and GPA among African American and Caucasians students is discussed.     

Horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism-collectivism: a comparison of African Americans and European Americans

The current study examined ethnic differences in horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism among 96 African American and 149 European American college students. Participants completed the 32-item Singelis et al. (1995) Individualism/Collectivism Scale. Multivariate analyses of variance results yielded a main effect for ethnicity, with African Americans being significantly higher on horizontal individualism and European Americans being higher on horizontal collectivism and vertical individualism. A moderated multiple regression analysis indicated that ethnicity significantly moderated the relationship between individualism and collectivism. Individualism and collectivism were significantly and positively associated among African Americans, but not associated among European Americans. In addition, collectivism was related to grade point average for African Americans but not for European Americans. Contrary to the prevailing view of individualism-collectivism being unipolar, orthogonal dimensions, results provide support for individualism-collectivism to be considered as unipolar, related dimensions for African Americans.     

Ethnic Segregation and Perceived Discrimination in College: Mutual Influences and Effects on Social and Academic Life1

This study examined relationships among same‐ethnicity friendships, perceptions of ethnic discrimination, and social and academic adjustment in college using a large longitudinal sample of White, Asian, Latino, and African American students. Results demonstrated that Latino students who had more in‐group friends during college exhibited reduced belonging and academic performance at the end of college. Perceived discrimination also had negative effects on Latino students' sense of belonging. For African American students, having more in‐group friends during college was related to enhanced academic commitment and motivation at the end of college. Perceiving more discrimination was also associated with enhanced academic motivation for African American students. Explanations for the divergent experiences of the two minority groups on campus are discussed.     

Male Reference Group Identity Dependence: Support for Construct Validity

This research study examined correlates of male identity statuses as postulated in Wade's (1998) theory of male reference group identity dependence. The Reference Group Identity Dependence Scale (RGIDS; Wade & Gelso, 1998) was correlated with measures of identity aspects (personal, social, and collective), belongingness, and a universal-diverse orientation. Based on the responses of 172 predominantly middle-class undergraduate college men (59% White, 15% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 13% African American, 4% Hispanic, and 9% other race/ethnicity, e.g., biracial, Arab American, Egyptian American), as predicted, the No Reference Group status negatively related to collective identity and social connectedness; the Reference Group Dependent status positively related to social identity and social connectedness; and the Reference Group Nondependent status positively related to personal identity, collective identity, social connectedness, and a universal-diverse orientation toward others.     

Ethnic identity,thin-ideal internalization,and eating pathology in ethnically diverse college women

Although much research suggests that ethnic identity is positively correlated with psychological health for ethnic minority women, research examining ethnic identity's relationships to thin-ideal internalization, weight concerns, and eating concerns is sparse. Consequently, this study examined these relationships in European American, African American, Latina, and Asian American college women (N = 816). As expected, univariate analyses of variance indicated that European American women scored lowest on ethnic identity and highest on eating and weight concerns, whereas African American women scored lowest on thin-ideal internalization. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that ethnic identity was negatively associated with eating and weight concerns, while body mass index and thin-ideal internalization were positively associated. Ethnic identity moderated the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and eating concerns such that the relationship was stronger for participants with lower ethnic identity. These results suggest ethnic identity may be a direct or interactive protective factor against eating concerns in ethnically diverse college women.     

大学生成就目标与主观幸福感的关系研究

目的：探讨大学生成就目标与主观幸福感的关系。方法：采用成就目标量表、主观幸福感量表整群抽样调查247名大学生。结果：①来自乡村的大学生的掌握目标显著高于来自城镇的大学生,女生的成绩回避目标显著高于男生。②掌握目标与积极情感显著正相关,与消极情感显著负相关;成绩接近目标与生活满意度、积极情感显著正相关;成绩回避目标与消极情感显著正相关。③掌握目标正向预测积极情感,负向预测消极情感;成绩接近目标正向预测生活满意度和积极情感;成绩回避目标正向预测消极情感,负向预测积极情感。结论：掌握目标和成绩接近目标有利于主观幸福感,成绩回避目标不利于主幸福感。     

Ethnic Consciousness and Its Relationship to Conservatism and Blame Among African Americans1

Ethnic consciousness is “a set of political beliefs and action orientations arising out of the awareness of similarity” (Gurin, Miller, & Gurin, 1980, p. 30). We suggest that these beliefs relate to political values and views among African Americans. Correlational data revealed that ethnic consciousness is negatively correlated with conservative values. Experimental data revealed that students high in ethnic consciousness blamed a White firm for the termination of an African American employee more than a Black firm for terminating a European American employee. Those low in ethnic consciousness did not discriminate between the Black firm versus the White firm. Consciousness may operate as a means of connecting ethnic identity and political views.     

Perfectionism and ethnicity: implications for depressive symptoms and self-reported academic achievement

Ethnic differences in perfectionism were examined among Asian American, African American, and Caucasian American college students. Analyses revealed that Asian American students scored significantly higher than the other groups on 3 of 6 perfectionism subscales. Minority students reported significantly higher parental expectations than Caucasian students. Significant correlations emerged for all 3 groups between depressive symptoms and concerns about making mistakes, perceived criticism from parents, and self-doubt. In regression analyses, perfectionism explained significant variance in depressive symptoms for Asian Americans and Caucasians and explained significant variance in cumulative grade point average for Asian Americans and African Americans. Self-doubt emerged as a robust individual predictor in these analyses.     

Social support and psychosocial competence: Explaining the adaptation to college of ethnically diverse students

Examined relationships among social support, psychosocial competence, and adaptation to college in a sample of 357 African American, Asian American, Latino, and white college students. Social support and active coping were significant predictors of adaptation to college, whereas locus of control was not. However, there was an interaction between ethnicity and locus of control indicating that although internal African American, Latino, and white students had higher adaptation-to-college scores than external students, the opposite was true for Asian Americans. The relationships among social support, internality, and active coping were also explored. Satisfaction with social support and internality were positively related to active coping, but locus of control and social support were unrelated. Active coping and internality were significantly related to each other for all groups except for African Americans. Although most relationships were the same across groups, these findings call attention to the role of ethnicity as a moderator of college adjustment processes.     

Exploring the Links Between Racial Identity Attitudes and Psychological Feelings of Closeness in African American College Students

The relationship between racial identity attitudes and psychological closeness to various African American groups was examined in 171 African American college students at a predominantly White southeastern university. The data were collected using the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Helms & Parham, 1985), and a scale measuring Perceived Psychological Closeness to African Americans. The closeness scale is a 14-item instrument that was found to represent (in this sample) psychological closeness to 4 African American groups. Internalized racial identity attitudes indicated positive feelings toward various groups of African Americans. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that internalized racial identity attitudes were predictive of psychological closeness to African Americans, although this varied somewhat depending on the subgroup.     

The effect of health value and ethnicity on the relationship between hardiness and health behaviors

Associations among hardiness, health value, and health protective behaviors were examined as a function of ethnicity among 80 African American and 100 European American college students. The role of health value as moderator versus mediator in the hardiness-health behavior link was explored. Racial differences in correlations among hardiness, control, and commitment were found, with stronger relations for African American than European Americans. Moderate positive relations between hardiness, control, commitment, and health value for African American, as contrasted with weak relations between commitment and health value for European Americans, were also shown. A partial mediational effect for health value with personal distress and moderator effects for health value with personal distress and health habits were found for African American only. Race predicted hardiness variables, tobacco and alcohol use, personal distress, and health habits beyond what was accounted for by occupation and income. The ramifications of these data with regard to future studies on hardiness, health value, and health behaviors for African American are discussed.     

Relations Among Racial Identity Attitudes,Perceived Stressors,and Coping Styles in African American College Students

This study expanded on previous research with African American college students at predominantly White institutions by examining the theoretically relevant but unexplored relations among racial identity attitudes and (a) both general and culture-specific stressors and (b) problem-focused coping styles. Ninety African American college students at a predominantly White university completed the Black Racial Identity Attitudes Scale, Black Student Stress Inventory, Problem Solving Inventory, and Problem-Focused Style of Coping Scale. A series of multivariate regression analyses revealed that specific racial identity attitudes were statistically significant predictors of both general and culture-specific stressors. In addition, one racial identity attitude status (immersion/emersion) was a unique predictor of general perceived stressors and problem solving. Results suggest the importance of racial identity schemata as a critical factor in predicting stress and coping responses of African American students at predominantly White institutions. The findings also underscore the utility in distinguishing between general and culture-specific stressors, which traditionally have been ignored in the psychological literature.     

Reasons to attend college among ethnically diverse college students

A survey of 713 ethnically diverse university freshmen (463 Latino, 167 Asian American, 54 African American, 29 European American) assessed reasons for attending college, ethnic identity, family interdependence, and college adjustment. Results revealed three reasons for attending college not reported in previous research: to help one's family, to prove one's self-worth, and because of encouragement. Attending college to help the family was stronger among students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Ethnic identity and family interdependence contributed positively to some reasons for attending college, but did not mediate ethnic differences; with cultural factors and socioeconomic status included as predictors, ethnic minority students still gave greater importance to family oriented motives than did European Americans. Career/personal and humanitarian motives contributed positively to college adjustment.     

Perceptions of childfree women: The role of perceivers' and targets' ethnicity

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of ethnicity on perceptions of voluntary childfree women. We were interested in determining whether mothers were viewed as more stereotypically positive than women without children and how the ethnicity of the participant and the target impacted participants' ratings. We utilized vignettes and manipulated motherhood status and ethnicity of the target. Participants (n = 224) were comprised of female university students in the southwestern region of the United States. Results indicated that women view childfree women negatively. Moreover, women view African American mothers more favourably than childfree African American women. Results are discussed in terms of gender roles in communities of colour. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

African American mother-daughter communication about sex and daughters' sexual behavior: does college racial composition make a difference?

This study examined the influence of African American mothers' communication about sexual topics on the sexual attitudes and behavior of their college-enrolled daughters. Daughters were enrolled at a historically Black college/university (HBCU) or a predominantly White institution (PWI) to assess whether and how college racial context might affect daughters' sexual attitudes and behavior. Findings indicated that daughters at the HBCU had less permissive attitudes about premarital sex than their counterparts at the PWI. This result was especially true for daughters of mothers with more conservative attitudes about premarital sex and who discussed such topics infrequently. Last, the combination of positive mother-daughter communication and fewer discussions about sexual topics resulted in lower levels of sexual experience among the daughters.     

The relationships among Black consciousness,self-esteem,and academic self-efficacy in African American men

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among Black consciousness, self-esteem, and academic self-efficacy in African American men. The participants were 120 African American male college students at a predominantly African American university. The authors administered 3 instruments--the Developmental Inventory of Black Consciousness (DIB-C; J. Milliones, 1980), the M. Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, and R. E. Wood and E. A. Locke's (1987) Academic Self-Efficacy Scale--to test the hypotheses. They used an independent-measures t test and a Pearson r correlation to analyze the data. The results of the study supported the hypotheses under investigation. Significant positive relationships were found between Black consciousness and self-esteem and Black consciousness and academic self-efficacy. The results of the study showed that Black consciousness appears to be an important construct to use in understanding self-esteem and academic self-efficacy in African American men.     

The Relationships Among Black Consciousness,Self-Esteem,and Academic Self-Efficacy in African American Men

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among Black consciousness, self-esteem, and academic self-efficacy in African American men. The participants were 120 African American male college students at a predominantly African American university. The authors administered 3 instruments—the Developmental Inventory of Black Consciousness (DIB-C; J. Milliones, 1980), the M. Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, and R. E. Wood and E. A. Locke's (1987) Academic Self-Efficacy Scale—to test the hypotheses. They used an independent-measures t test and a Pearson r correlation to analyze the data. The results of the study supported the hypotheses under investigation. Significant positive relationships were found between Black consciousness and self-esteem and Black consciousness and academic self-efficacy. The results of the study showed that Black consciousness appears to be an important construct to use in understanding self-esteem and academic self-efficacy in African American men.     

AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGE WOMEN'S BODY IMAGE

The purpose of this study was to examine general and cultural factors associated with body image perceptions of African American women college students. A total of 124 African American college women attending a historically Black college completed the following scales: African Self-Consciousness (ASC) scale, the Skin Color Satisfaction Scale (SCSS), the Body Mass Index (BMI), and several body image measures. Results from simultaneous multiple regression analyses suggest that all three factors collectively accounted for a significant amount of variance in dimensions of body image satisfaction. Specifically, SCSS accounted for a significant amount of variance in three body image dimensions (i.e., appearance evaluation, satisfaction with specific body areas, internalization of social cultural messages of appearance), suggesting that the greater satisfaction with one's skin color was associated with more positive, internal perspectives of one's body image. The BMI accounted for a significant amount of variance in measures of appearance evaluation and satisfaction with body areas, such that greater BMI scores were related to a less positive evaluation of overall appearance but more satisfaction with specific body areas. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.