African American College Students Research Articles

Social Support and Success in Higher Education: The Influence of On-Campus Support on African American and Latino College Students

This study focuses on how personal support from the college environment influences the academic performance of African American and Latino college students attending selective colleges. Under-represented students at selective colleges continue to face challenges to their academic success, and support from the college environment is a key factor in the academic success of many of these students. The results indicate that it is important to distinguish between different forms of personal support and the race and gender of students receiving support. However, I find that the influence of faculty, specifically support from faculty of color, is important for the success of African American and Latino students at selective colleges.

Role of Neuroticism and Coping Strategies in Psychological Reactions to a Racist Incident Among African American University Students

A total of 562 African American university students provided data on individual differences in neuroticism; coping with a recent experience being the target of prejudice, racism, and/or discrimination; and psychological reactions to the incident. Higher negative affect, lower positive affect, more intrusive thoughts about the incident, and lack of forgiveness for the perpetrator were used to index distress in response to the racist incident. Using factor analyses, we determined the factor structure of the Brief COPE in our sample. Using structural equation modeling, we then examined neuroticism and each coping factor as unique predictors of reactions to the race-related incident. We documented that there were direct and indirect associations (via the selection of coping strategies) between neuroticism and the outcome measures. Neuroticism also moderated the association between particular coping strategies and reactions to the racist incident. There was also evidence for direct associations between various coping strategies and the outcome measures. The research, though preliminary, suggests the importance of neuroticism and coping strategies in understanding psychological reactions to being the target of racism.

Double Consciousness: Postsecondary Experiences of African American Males with Disabilities

Author W.E.B. Du Bois (1989) asserted the following in his analysis of the underlying identity crisis confronting African Americans in the 20th century:It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, the sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness . . . souls, thoughts, unreconciled strivings; warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keep it from being tom asunder, (p. 5)African American students with disabilities are not the specific subject of Du Bois' statement; however their educational experiences reflect the precarious intersections of disability, race, and cultural jeopardy. African Americans with disabilities face what Du Bois would characterize as a double-consciousness. Schools, primarily through teaching and socialization, have historically served to transmit the dominant language and cultural norms while cultural differences have been ignored (DeBose, 2007; Shockley, 2007). Historically, and at present, educational institutions have segregated students with disabilities from the general school population with the explicit intention to fix these defective students (Patton, 1998). Therefore, African Americans with disabilities often encounter the challenge of having to internally affirm the integrity of their disability and cultural identities while confronting the norms of an educational system that has been historically hostile to those identities.In this article the authors attempt to delineate the complex development of disability and cultural identity of African American male college students. Given the prevalence of deficit attributes associated with their intellect and academic performance, this investigation is characterized by the pressures portrayed by Du Bois. The first is the pressure to assume a cultural identity that disconnects from dominant narratives which construct African American men as criminals, irresponsible fathers, descendants of dysfunctional families, drug addicts, and selfdestructive misogynistic 'ballers'(Harper, 2009; Johnson, 2006). The second is the pressure to assert one's self as an academic achiever in a world that ascribes to individuals with a disability label of 'gimp', 'cripple', 'ill-of-form', or 'invalid' and, thereby, enter into two warring ideals- those of African American students labeled with disabilities added with the dominant cultural narrative that says he is less intelligent and pathological.In what follows, the authors will show how these double-consciousness pressures are displayed in the academic experiences of twelve African American male college students. In this article, it is demonstrated how the foundation of their academic persistence flows from a wide array of sources. This array of sources ranges from highly educated middle-class two-parent families; for others their source of motivation developed from the deep desire to overcome a challenging childhood of living in homeless shelters where they were responsible for the care of multiple younger siblings. The authors contend research is needed to explore the lived experiences of individuals whose identities reflect those of multiple marginalized groups, such as African American male college students and individuals with disabilities. Moreover, research studies are needed that provide a voice to individuals who have been historically and systematically deprived access to educational opportunities due to their racial/ethnic and disability identities.Educational Experience of African American Students with DisabilitiesOverwhelming evidence points to the historic and current practices that African American students are continuously at risk of being misidentified as having a disability due to unfair assessment methods and teacher subjectivity embedded in the eligibility procedures (Harry & Klinger, 2006; Neil et al. …

Social-Cognitive Predictors of STEM Career Interests and Goal Persistence in College Students With Disabilities From Racial and Ethnic Minority Backgrounds

Objective:To examine the relations of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics’s (STEM) self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, and contextual supports and barriers to STEM educational goals in college students with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgroundsDesign:Quantitative descriptive research design using hierarchical regression analysis (HRA)Participants:115 underrepresented minority students with disabilities receiving services from the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Minority-Disability (MIND) Alliance in STEM project at Hunter College, City University of New York and Southern University at Baton Rouge for the years 2008−2011.Outcome Measures:TheSocial-Cognitive STEM measuresResults:The HRA results indicated that gender, advanced placement (AP) classes, father’s educational level, academic milestone self-efficacy, and STEM interest were significant predictors of goal persistence in African American and Hispanic college students with disabilities. The final model accounted for 57% of the variance in STEM persistence, which is considered a large effect size.Conclusion:The research findings provide good support for the use of the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework to identify predictors of STEM persistence and to design academic retention services and career development interventions for college students who are underrepresented minorities with disabilities.

Oxygen Consumption at 30 W of Exercise Is Surrogate for Peak Oxygen Consumption in Evaluation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Young-Adult African-American Females

Body mass index (BMI) is negatively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness, measured by maximal or peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak). VO2peak measurements require heavy aerobic exercise to near exhaustion which increases the potential for adverse cardiovascular events. This study tests the hypothesis that VO2 measured at a fixed submaximal workload of 30 W is a surrogate for VO2peak. We studied 42 normotensive African-American female university students, 18–25 years of age. We measured VO2peak, blood pressure, and VO2 at a 30 W exercise workload and computed BMI. We found significant negative correlations between BMI and VO2peak (r = −0.41, P < 0.01) and between BMI and VO2 at 30 W (r = −0.53, P < 0.001). Compared to VO2peak, VO2 at 30 W increased the significance of the negative correlation with BMI. The heart rate-systolic pressure product at 30 W was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.36, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with VO2peak (r = −0.38, P < 0.001). The positive correlation between BMI and the heart rate-systolic pressure product and the greater negative correlation between VO2 and BMI at 30 W of exercise than that at exercise to fatigue suggest that normalized measurements of VO2 at the fixed exercise workload of 30 W could be useful surrogates for measurements of VO2peak.

&lt;em&gt;Guest Editorial:&lt;/em&gt; The Rapidly Changing Landscape in Higher Education and Its Impact on African American Students

Whether it is perceived as a means to obtaining a good job, increasing income, finding one's passion or purpose, or simply the logical next step following high school, going to and completing college can significantly impact the options and lifestyles of many Americans. Although outcomes and opportunities vary as a function of the specific school that a student attends, as well as the major selected, higher education yields a return on time and financial investment for the masses of Americans paralleled by few other experiences. While African Americans have been legally oppressed for the vast majority of their time in the United States, and have had access to formal higher education since the mid-1800s, they have been impacted by several shifts in the postsecondary landscape. The first significant shift for African Americans was the creation of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), most of which were created between 1865 and 1910. HBCUs not only provided the vast majority of African Americans with their first opportunity to seek higher education, they also made the opportunity geographically accessible via several postsecondary options in the South, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic states. Unfortunately, the U.S. allowed a two-tier system of higher education to develop in which predominantly White institutions (PWIs) occupied the top tier as a result of state, federal, and private investment in human and physical resources and HBCUs were placed at the lower tier due to a lack of state and federal support.. Nevertheless, these noble institutions persevered.Another shift in higher education that significantly impacted African Americans was the desegregation of public institutions, which included public colleges and universities in the United States that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of private colleges occasionally granted degrees to African Americans prior to the Movement, but these numbers significantly increased in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Although desegregation provided increased postsecondary options for African American students, introduced the Black athlete to NCAA Division I sports, prompted affirmative action policies, and may have assisted in reducing White prejudice toward Black people, it also devastated many HBCUs. By the early 1980s the majority of African American college students attended PWIs, which significantly decreased enrollments at HBCUs causing several of them to close their doors and others to struggle financially from then until today.There were several other noteworthy shifts in higher education that were not explicitly based on race, but have disproportionately impacted African Americans (e.g., federal financial aid policies, affirmative action rulings by the courts, and the inconsistency between high school curricula and college requirements). In the modem era, these policies have tended to work to the disadvantage of African American students for college admissions).Currently, higher education seems to be at a crossroads. Significant increases in the cost of attending college over the last twenty years have led many to question whether the degree is worth the money. Student loan debt in the U.S. is approaching the one trillion dollar mark and recently exceeded credit card debt (Brown et al. , 2012).. Student loan default rates are on the rise, state funding of public institutions is declining, and the credit ratings of many institutions have experienced recent downgrades. Furthermore, the postsecondary sector is undergoing a dramatic paradigm shift that parallels the music and publishing industries of a decade ago, catalyzed by similar forces-advances in networking technology, near-ubiquitous availability of online content, and growing consumer demand for direct access to content providers (Aman, 2013). Finally, the separate and combined impact of race, gender, and pre-college preparation on postsecondary performance is complex and continually evolving. …

Perceived racism and alcohol consequences among african american and caucasian college students.

Few studies have assessed relationships between perceived racism, racism-related stress, and alcohol problems. The current study examined these relationships within the context of tension reduction models of alcohol consumption. Participants were 94 African American and 189 Caucasian college freshmen who completed an online survey assessing perceived racism, alcohol consequences, alcohol consumption, negative affect, and deviant behavior. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that racism-related stress predicted alcohol consequences for both African American and Caucasian college students, even after controlling for alcohol consumption, negative affect, and behavioral deviance. The frequency of racist events predicted alcohol consequences for Caucasian but not African American students. These findings highlight the need to address racism and racism-related stress in college-based alcohol prevention and intervention efforts.

Relationships between Body Mass Index and Social Support, Physical Activity, and Eating Habits in African American University Students

PurposeWe aimed to examine the relationships between obesity and the level of social support for healthy behaviors, amount of physical activity (PA), and dietary habits in African Americans. MethodsThe subjects were 412 university students who visited a health promotion center at North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA between September 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. We administered a social support survey, the National Institutes of Health Fruit, Vegetable, and Fat Screener, the Paffenbarger PA Questionnaire, and measures of body mass index, waist circumference (WC), and blood pressure. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance and logistic regression analyses. ResultsResults showed that men in the overweight group had WC and systolic blood pressure (SBP) measurements associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and below average PA; those in the obese group had WC, SBP, and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) measurements associated with CVD risk and below average PA. Women in the overweight group had WC and SBP measurements associated with CVD risk, and those in the obesity group had WC, SBP, and DBP measurements associated with CVD risk and below average PA. Logistic regression analysis showed that increasing PA by 1,000 kcal/week decreased the prevalence of obesity by 9.3% in men and 9.0% in women. ConclusionThus, low PA was a significant risk factor for obesity among African Americans. However, the level of social support and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fat were not found to be significant risk factors in this study.

The Relation Between Parental Racial Socialization and African Americans’ Racial Ideologies

Racial ideology shapes how African Americans interpret the world and cope with race-related issues and events. A complex interaction of individual, family, and group experiences in one’s sociocultural and historical context is critical to the development of racial ideology. While parental racial socialization has been associated with racial identity, the more specific relationship between parental racial socialization and racial ideology is less understood. The present study examined the association of four dimensions of racial socialization messages reported by participants (cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, and egalitarian socialization) with four dimensions of racial ideology (assimilationist, humanist, oppressed minority, and nationalist) using hierarchical linear regression ( n = 89 African American college students). Participants’ endorsement of assimilationist and oppressed minority ideologies was not predicted by racial socialization messages. However, endorsement of humanist and nationalist ideologies was predicted by cultural and egalitarian socialization messages in opposing directions. Cultural socialization was associated with endorsement of higher nationalist and lower humanist ideology, whereas egalitarian socialization was associated with the endorsement of lower nationalist and higher humanist ideology.

Comparison of African American college students' coping with racially and nonracially stressful events.

Racial discrimination, a common experience for many African Americans, has been conceptualized within a stress and coping framework. However, few have examined whether racially stressful events are appraised and coped with differently from nonracially stressful events. The present study uses a daily diary method to examine African American college students' appraisals and coping behaviors in racially and nonracially stressful situations. The study examines the following 3 questions: 1) Do African Americans appraise racially stressful events differently from nonracially stressful events? 2) Do they cope with racially stressful events differently from nonracially stressful events? and 3) Do they cope with racially stressful events differently from nonracially stressful events, even after controlling for differences in cognitive appraisals of the events? The present sample consists of 35 participants who reported experiencing at least one racially stressful event and at least one nonracially stressful event during a 20-day diary study. Overall, no differences were found in students' appraisals in the racially stressful versus nonracially stressful events. Participants used less planful problem solving and more confrontive, ruminative, and avoidance coping strategies in the racially stressful events as compared with the nonracially stressful events. These findings suggest a need for race-specific models for coping with racial discrimination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

“What They See as Acceptable:” A Co-Cultural Theoretical Analysis of Black Male Students at a Predominantly White Institution

This study uses co-cultural theory to explore how African American male college students select and enact communication strategies at a predominantly White institution when interacting with dominant groups. The authors use focus groups and individual interviews to examine the experiences of the participants. Three themes evolved from the data: (a) aggressive assimilation: negotiating stereotypes and self-identity, (b) nonassertive separation: negotiating marginalization and power imbalances, and (c) desire for accommodation: communication strategy impediments. They conclude with implications for co-cultural theory and suggestions for future research.

Positive emotions and the social broadening effects of Barack Obama.

Past experiments have demonstrated that the cognitive broadening produced by positive emotions may extend to social contexts. Building on this evidence, we hypothesized that positive emotions triggered by thinking about Barack Obama may broaden and expand people's sense of self to include others. Results from an expressive-writing study demonstrated that African American college students prompted to write about Obama immediately prior to and after the 2008 presidential election used more plural self-references, fewer other-references, and more social references. Mediation analyses revealed that writing about Obama increased positive emotions, which in turn increased the likelihood that people thought in terms of more-inclusive superordinate categories (we and us rather than they and them). Implications of these findings for the role of positive emotions in perspective-taking and intergroup relations are considered.

Adapting an Evidence-Based HIV Intervention for At-Risk African American College Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Who Use Alcohol and Drugs

The convergence of the high prevalence of HIV incidence among African American adolescent and adult women along with substance use and risky sexual behavior among university students necessitates the development of a HIV intervention specifically addressing culture, gender, and college factors for female African American university students. The woman-focused HIV intervention was chosen for adaptation because it has been shown to be efficacious with reducing risk for African American women who use alcohol and drugs, and has been successfully adapted 7 times. The target population was African American college women enrolled at a historically Black university who use alcohol and other drugs, and who engaged in risky sex behaviors. To understand and assess the needs of this population, we conducted four focus groups with African American college women, two in-depth interviews with faculty, and a combination of in-depth interviews and focus groups with student affairs and health staff that were analyzed using content analysis. From this analysis, several themes emerged that were used to adapt the intervention. Emerging themes included challenges related to identity and societal stereotypes, lack of knowledge about sexual health (i.e., negotiating safer sex) and the function of female and male anatomies, high incidents of pregnancy, negative consequences related to alcohol and marijuana use, and the need to incorporate testimonies from college students, media enhancements, and role-plays to convey intervention messages. After the preliminary adaptation, 11 college women reviewed the adapted intervention and provided positive feedback. Plans for future research are discussed.

Racism‐Related Stress and Ethnic Identity as Determinants of African American College Students' Career Aspirations

Drawing primarily on the construct of psychological buffer, the purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which racism‐related stress and ethnic identity are determinants of career aspirations. A total of 163 African American college students from a predominately White Midwestern university participated in the study. A moderation regression analysis was conducted. Results indicate that ethnic identity interacted with racism‐related stress (p= .04) to predict career aspirations. In other words, as racism‐related stress increases in the context of low identity development, career aspirations decrease. Conversely, as perceived racism increases in the context of high identity development, career aspirations increase. Implications for professionals and future research in the field of career counseling are discussed.

Parental Attachment, Cognitive Working Models, and Depression Among African American College Students

In an attempt to understand the cognitive mechanisms by which parental attachments predict depression among African American college students, the authors examined a mediational path model containing parental attachment, cognitive working models, and depression. The model demonstrated a close fit to the data, and several significant paths emerged. The authors provide recommendations for counselors practicing in college counseling centers and suggest directions for future research.

Interactions Into Opportunities: Career Management for Low-Income, First-Generation African American College Students

This study explores how low-income, African American college students obtain social capital resources from university contacts to set and achieve career goals. Students knew little about career options available to future college graduates beyond jobs that were related to their current jobs. Few students utilized the information, influence, and opportunity resources of their university contacts that could increase their career ambitions because they were unaware that informal interactions with these individuals could be helpful. Thus, students had more constrained career plans than they could have had. Strategies to enhance the career expectations of this student population are proposed.

Examining the Relationship Between Attachment Behaviors and College Student Health and Wellness

In a recent study presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Dr. John Guthman noted that there has been a steady growth in the number of students seeking counseling services for more severe psychological problems on college and university campuses in the United States (Nauert, 2010). He postulated that one possible reason for this trend may be that an increasing number of students are coming to campus socially isolated and not connected to any individual or group. Indeed, previous researchers have suggested that two constructs integral to successful college adjustment are continuing parental attachment and social support (Moller, Fouladi, McCarthy, & Hatch, 2003). Although the existing literature has shown a strong link between adult attachment and mental and physical health, Raque-Bogdan, Ericson, Jackson, Martin, and Bryan (2011) stated that little is known about the factors and mechanisms underlying these relationships. In this issue of the Journal of College Counseling, several researchers attempt to fill this gap by exploring possible constructs related to college student attachment. In the opening article, Chia-Chih DC Wang and colleagues used adult attachment theory and cognitive appraisal theory to examine how college students react to romantic infidelity scenarios. In their study, both attachment and cognitive appraisal mediated the effects of attachment on behavioral and emotional reactions. Their work provides college counselors with a better understanding of how clients' attachment styles and cognitive processes may affect their experiences and reactions when faced with a romantic partner's act of infidelity. Keisha Love and Tamera Murdock examined a mediational path model containing parental attachment, cognitive working models, and depression. They hypothesized that cognitive working models of the self and others would mediate the relationship between parental attachment and depression among African American college students. Their results lend support for the use of parental attachment relationships as a predictor of depression and provide direction for counselors working with these clients in their daily practice. Jeffrey Ashby and colleagues examined the relationship between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, stress, depression, and satisfaction with life in a sample of undergraduate women. The increasing number of college students who report seeking counseling services for the distress caused by perfectionism make this a timely contribution to the college counseling literature. In addition to providing evidence for a reexamination of the association between adaptive perfectionism, stress, and possible related outcomes, Ashby and colleagues also provide additional support for the mediating role stress plays in the association of maladaptive perfectionism with decreased positive and increased negative outcomes. …

Help-Seeking Attitudes, Mental Health Stigma, and Self-Concealment Among African American College Students

Stigma has been noted as a major obstacle of mental health service use among African Americans. The present study investigated whether mental health stigma and self-concealment were uniquely associated with attitudes toward seeking professional psychological services in African American college students. Data of 163 African Americans ( nFemale = 127; 78% female) were used for present analyses. Results revealed that both mental health stigma and self-concealment were uniquely associated with help-seeking attitudes after controlling for gender, age, and previous experience of seeking professional psychological services.

Alcohol-Related Consequences in African American and European American College Students

Approximately 50% of college students report a heavy drinking episode in the past 2 weeks. This pattern of heavy episodic drinking places them at risk for experiencing alcohol-related problems. In addition, important ethnic differences exist between European American and African American college students in terms of drinking. European American college students report consuming more alcohol than African American college students, but little research exists on the differences in types and rates of problems. The current study sought to examine the differences in problems among 451 African American and European American college students using a comprehensive measure of alcohol-related problems. The effect of gender was also examined as research has found consistent gender differences in drinking. European American students experienced more problems overall and greater levels of social/interpersonal problems and risky behaviors even after controlling for drinking level. In addition, women reported significantly greater levels of problems in all domains except physical dependence, risky behaviors, and self-perception when drinking was controlled for.

Perfectionism in African American students: Relationship to racial identity, GPA, self-esteem, and depression.

This study examined 219 African American college students at predominantly White universities using the constructs of perfectionism, academic achievement, self-esteem, depression, and racial identity. Cluster analysis was performed using the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), which yielded three clusters that represented adaptive perfectionists, maladaptive perfectionists, and nonperfectionists. These three groups were compared on their scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS), and Grade Point Average (GPA). Adaptive perfectionists reported higher self-esteem and lower depression scores than both the nonperfectionists and maladaptive perfectionists. Adaptive perfectionists had higher GPAs than nonperfectionists. On the racial identity scales, maladaptive perfectionists had higher scores on Pre-Encounter Self Hatred and Immersion-Emersion Anti-White subscales than adaptive perfectionists. The cultural and counseling implications of this study are discussed and integrated. Finally, recommendations are made for future studies of African American college students and perfectionism.