Emotion regulation moderates the relationship between perceived discrimination and risk behaviors in African American college students

The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is marked by an individual’s persistent perception of incompetency despite contrary evidence. The presence of IP has been found to negatively affect many college students, but literature on IP among African American college students, specifically, is limited. Previous literature has emphasized a positive association between racial identity and self-esteem for African Americans, and an inverse association between self-esteem and IP among non-African American samples. However, few studies have examined these variables in African American undergraduate samples. Objectives: The current study examined the relationships between racial identity, self-esteem, and IP among African American undergraduate students. It was hypothesized that self-esteem would mediate the relationship between racial identity and IP. Method: The participants were 112 (74% female) self-identified African American undergraduate students who completed an online survey. Results: Mediation testing via bootstrapping revealed support for the hypothesis—self-esteem mediated the relationship between racial identity and IP. Conclusion: University initiatives should focus on creating inclusive environments that foster racial identity development and self-esteem for African Americans to reduce experiences of IP.

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Physical Activity and High Risk Behaviors Among Incoming First-Year African American College Students

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise ◽

10.1249/01.mss.0000495030.08440.0a ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 521

Author(s):

Sheila A. Ward

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

College Students ◽

African American ◽

High Risk ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

First Year ◽

African American College Students ◽

High Risk Behaviors

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Religiosity and HIV Risk Behaviors in African-American Students

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/13.20.21.pr0.108.2.528-536 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 108 (2) ◽

pp. 528-536 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Kimberly Boyd-Starke ◽

Oliver W. Hill ◽

John Fife ◽

Marcina Whittington

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

African American ◽

Risk Behaviors ◽

Hiv Risk ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

African American Students ◽

Hiv Risk Behaviors ◽

Risky Sexual Behaviors ◽

African American College Students ◽

American Students

The participants were 256 African-American students between the ages of 18 and 25, from two historically Black universities. The purpose of this study was to see how dimensions of religiosity and spirituality influenced the HIV risk behavior in African-American college students. Each participant completed the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI) and a survey of sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The data were analyzed using a series of ANOVAs, t tests, and correlations. The results from the study confirmed that there was a relationship between religiosity/spirituality and one's tendency to engage in HIV risk behaviors in the population of African-American college students. Interestingly, this study was able to reveal that traditional indicators of religiosity, such as association and church attendance, were not predictors of any of the risky sexual behaviors or attitudes. The portions of religiosity with the greatest impact on these behaviors were the Experiential/Phenomenological, the Existential Well-being, and the Cognitive dimensions, with high scores on each indicative of less likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors.

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Disgust Sensitivity and Attitudes toward Organ Donation among African-American College Students

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.2001.89.1.11 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 89 (1) ◽

pp. 11-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Nancy C. Sherman ◽

Robert J. Smith ◽

Martin F. Sherman ◽

Patti Rickert-Wilbur

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

African American ◽

Organ Donation ◽

Behavioral Intention ◽

Behavioral Measure ◽

African American College Students ◽

Disgust Sensitivity ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

African American Population ◽

The Relationship

241 African-American college students (94 men and 147 women, mean age = 20.3 ± 3.4 yr.) completed the 1994 Disgust Scale of Haidt, McCauley, and Rozin and a modified form of Parisi-Rizzo's 1987 Attitudes Toward Organ Donation Scale (negative subscale only) as well as a behavioral measure of intention to donate organs after death. Analyses indicated that the higher the disgust sensitivity, the more negative the attitude toward organ donation and the less likely the student was to indicate intent to donate organs. It was further shown that negative attitudes toward organ donation mediated the relationship between disgust sensitivity and the behavioral intention measure. Results highlight the complexity of the issues surrounding organ donation within an African-American population and provide additional empirical evidence for the development of a theoretical model to explain the organ donation phenomenon.

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