Reciprocal associations of perceived discrimination, internalizing symptoms, and academic achievement in Latino students across the college transition.

Abstract

Objective: Despite growing evidence that perceived discrimination negatively impacts underrepresented ethnic–racial college students, there is a lack of longitudinal studies with multiple sources of discrimination as Latinos transition from high school (HS) to college. This study examined changes in peer, adult, and everyday discrimination across the college transition and tested concurrent, prospective, and reciprocal associations between these sources of discrimination, internalizing symptoms, and grade point average (GPA). Method: Latino adolescents (N = 209; Mage at Time 1 = 18.10; 64.4% female; 85.1% Mexican descent) reported on discrimination experiences and internalizing symptoms during their final year of high school and first college semester. Participants’ GPA was obtained from institutional records. Longitudinal data were analyzed using cross-lagged panel models. Results: Adult discrimination remained stable while peer and everyday discrimination decreased from high school to college. All sources of discrimination were concurrently associated with internalizing symptoms, but not GPA, in high school and college. There were positive bidirectional associations between everyday discrimination and internalizing symptoms across the college transition. Adult discrimination during high school predicted increased discrimination from adults and peers in college. First-generation college students reported higher everyday and peer discrimination in college. Conclusions: Latino students’ experiences of everyday and ethnic–racial discrimination in school may be more closely tied to psychological rather than academic adjustment in the first semester of college. First-generation college students and those who experienced higher adult discrimination or internalizing symptoms in high school appear to be more susceptible to increased perceptions of discrimination during the college transition.

Contextualizing Bicultural Competence Across Youths’ Adaptation From High School to College: Prospective Associations With Mental Health and Substance Use

“…Youths who exhibit more facility and comfort navigating multiple cultural resources and challenges before college may enter higher education with a greater foundation of social awareness, the ability to develop positive relationships with others, and skills to navigate different social contexts (Carbajal et al, 2022; Carlo et al, 2016). When faced with discrimination because of interpersonal, institutional, and structural forces (Aguirre, 2012; Castro et al, 2022), bicultural competence may be restricted across this transitional period. However, these same youths may leverage their bicultural abilities to respond to contextual demands, and behavioral bicultural competence established before entering college may particularly reduce internalizing psychopathology.…”

“…Furthermore, research has shown that youths of color encounter increasing perceived discrimination from professors but consistent peer discrimination as they progress grade levels (Del Toro & Hughes, 2020). Relying on the present study’s sample, prior work documented that discrimination from adults remains stable across the transition to college, whereas peer and everyday discrimination decrease from high school through college (Castro et al, 2022).…”

Profiles of acculturative strategies and cultural stressors among Hispanic/Latinx college-attending emerging adults.

“…Cultural stressors, individually and collectively, have been shown to compromise mental health across a variety of indicators. Indeed, several studies have documented the detrimental impact of ethnic/racial discrimination across a number of indicators of adjustment (e.g., Castro et al, 2022; Cheng & Mallinckrodt, 2015). Similarly, numerous studies have indicated positive relations between bicultural stressors/stress 1 with depressive symptoms (e.g., Piña-Watson et al, 2019) and positive functioning (e.g., Meca, Webb, et al, 2022; Piña-Watson et al, 2019).…”

Cuing disparities: The consequences of race‐based social stressors for academic achievement

“…Little research, however, has traced the full pathway from race‐based stressors, through stress responses, to academic achievement (see Figure 1). Previous work has linked discriminatory climates and school belonging to performance in math and reading among high school students (Baysu et al, 2022), and other studies have explored whether psychological distress from discrimination impacts Latine college students' academic performance (Castro, Sasser, Sills, & Doane, 2022; see also, Keels et al, 2017). Yet, there is no comprehensive research to date that has simultaneously considered social identity threat, psychological distress and physical stress in response to race‐based stressors and how they shape disparities in achievement among URM college students in STEM fields.…”