Precollege predictors of first year academic success and psychological adjustment in a sample of ethnic minority college students: Implications of first-choice college

University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. 2019. Major: Psychology. Advisor: Moin Syed. 1 computer file (PDF); 82 pages.Ethnic minority students experience additional challenges in higher education that may lead to negative adjustment during college. Academic success and psychological adjustment during the first year of college support college completion. Many scholars emphasize that college is a unique period of identity exploration, increased instability, possibilities, and self-focus. As college students explore and negotiate their sense of self as independent adults, students, and future employees, there may be specific factors that are especially important for academic success during the transition to college. Understanding predictors of student adjustment helps policy makers and higher education institutions develop evidence-based policy aimed at supporting the success of minority college students. In this study, we explored a new potential predictor along with well-established predictors of academic success in a sample of ethnic minority first year college students (n = 942). We investigated the predictive contribution of first-choice college (i.e. students being at their first choice university) to student adjustment and if it may be a protective factor for first-generation college students’ academic achievement. We also examined the associations between well-established predictors (e.g. past achievement, first-generation college student status, ethnic identity, depression, positive psychological adjustment, substance use, motivational factors, and personality traits) and academic success. Individuals at their first-choice college had significantly positive psychological adjustment than students not at their first-choice college. However, first-choice college was not associated with GPA, depressive symptoms, or substance use. Findings suggest, however, a significant, negative interaction where first-generation college students at their first-choice college were performing worse academically than first-generation college students not at their first-choice college. In relation to other well-established predictors of academic success, results varied and explained 13-14% of the variance in academic success for ethnic minority college students. Although results were not consistent, overall, first-choice college did not increase the variance explained. Variation in results of well-established predictors demonstrate the importance of replication methods and samples with enough power to detect effects

Discrimination, Life Stress, and Mental Health among Muslims: A Preregistered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Research suggests that experiences of discrimination and life stressors are associated with negative mental-health outcomes for Muslim populations in western countries. The current study reports on two meta-analyses based on 295 correlations from 130 unique samples and 27,725 individuals, examining the associations of discrimination and life stressors, both separately and jointly, with mental health. Discrimination was significantly associated with negative mental-health outcomes (rs = .22–.23). Between-study variability in effects sizes was explained by discrimination level, mental-health outcome, number of discrimination measure items, and refugee status. Life stressors were also significantly associated with negative mental-health outcomes (rs = .32–.37). Between-study variability in effect sizes was explained by publication bias, sample population, number of life stressor measure items, continent, and ethnicity. Both omnibus effect-size estimates were robust to tests of publication bias, outliers, and within-study dependence. Results suggest unique associations between both discrimination and life stressors with mental health. In the current sociopolitical climate, this study is an important step to better serve the mental health needs of the growing global Muslim community

Integrating Culture and Biology in Psychological Research: Conceptual Clarifications and Recommendations

The increased prevalence of psychological research that integrates cultural and biological perspectives requires that we take stock of how the field approaches important issues of conceptualization and measurement. The primary goal of this chapter is to raise some substantial conceptual and methodological issues of which researchers in the field should be aware. To this end, the chapter includes an in-depth discussion of the nature of cultural psychology, highlights the need to carefully conceptualize the nature of cultural groups, and addresses the ongoing debate about the biological basis of race. The second half of the chapter provides some specific recommendations for future researchers who wish to pursue a rigorous scientific approach to understanding the interplay of culture and biology

Somali Migration to the U.S.: Understanding Adaptation through Digital Stories

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to further understand the psychological process of migration through an interdisciplinary (psychology, history, and digital humanities) collaboration that examines the experiences of Somali refugees in the U.S. Method: The sample consisted of 26 Somali-American emerging adult and older adult refugees who created digital stories as part of the Immigrant Stories Project (https://immigrantstories.umn.edu/). Stories were analyzed through an examination of narrative structure and content. Results: The structure of the authors’ stories was primarily progressive or stable, with very few regressive stories. Although the distribution of these story structures did not differ for emerging adults and older adults, there were important variations in content. Emerging adults’ stories reflected a struggle to find self-continuity across time and place, whereas older adults’ stories indicated attempts to find meaning and optimally adapt to their current situations. Moreover, none of the stories took on a redemptive structure, a type of story that has been identified as culturally prevalent in U.S. culture but seldom examined across diverse populations. Conclusions: The findings highlight the varieties of paths toward successful immigration and the importance of taking a collaborative, participatory approach to understanding migration experiences

Women’s heart health at mid-life: what is the role of psychosocial stress?

Abstract Background Women in mid-life experience unique stressors, including transitions within their family roles, informal caregiving, job stress, and perceived discrimination. The impact of these stressors on cardiovascular health in women during mid-life is of growing interest in both the popular and scientific literature. The objective of this review is to summarize the recent literature on stress and cardiovascular health in mid-life women. We focus on stressors that are relevant to mid-life women, including social stress and discrimination, and long-term risk of CVD events and subclinical CVD measures. Methods We systematically reviewed the literature published between January 2012 and April 2018 for studies examining stress in mid-life and either CVD endpoints or subclinical CVD outcomes. Eligible studies included at least one psychosocial stress exposure, a CVD or subclinical CVD outcome, and either included only female participants, reported sex-stratified analyses or tested for a sex*stress interaction. Results We identified 37 studies published since 2012 that met our criteria and included women between the ages of 40 and 65, including 3 case-control studies, 15 cross-sectional studies, and 19 prospective cohort studies. Because clinical CVD events typically occur after age 65 in women, only 22 studies were available that evaluated stress and hard CVD events in samples with mid-life women. Results from these studies suggested an increased and significant risk of CVD due to stress. Of the 15 studies that included subclinical CVD outcomes, the majority showed that mid-life women experiencing greater levels of stress had more subclinical CVD, as indicated by carotid intima-media thickness, flow-mediated dilation and arterial stiffness; however, several studies reported null associations. Conclusions General life stress, including perceived stress and life events, in mid-life was significantly related to later-life CVD risk and mid-life subclinical CVD in the majority of studies published in the past six years. Job stress was inconsistently related to CVD risk in women, and fewer studies examined characteristics of other social roles, such as marriage, motherhood or caregiving. Perceived discrimination also was associated with CVD events and subclinical CVD in some samples of mid-life women. Further investigation into specific stressors relevant to women in mid-life, including caregiving and marital stress, are needed to understand the full extent to which life stress impacts CVD risk in mid-life women