Linda G. Castillo

Academic Stress Among College Students: Comparison of American and International Students

This study compared academic stressors and reactions to stressors between American and international students using Gadzella’s Life Stress Inventory (B. M. Gadzella, 1991). Five categories of academic stressors (i.e., frustrations, conflicts, pressures, changes, and self-imposed) and four categories describing reactions to these stressors (i.e., physiological, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive) were examined. The sample consisted of 392 international and American students from 2 Midwestern universities. American students reported higher self-imposed stressors and greater behavioral reactions to stressors than international students. Respondent’s status (American or international) and interaction of status and stressors emerged as the 2 strongest predictors of their behavioral, emotional, physiological, and cognitive reaction to stressors. Five stressors attained statistical significance in the regression model. The findings emphasize the need to recognize cultural differences in stress management. Implications for mental health providers in the university arena are discussed.

Acculturation, White Marginalization, and Family Support as Predictors of Perceived Distress in Mexican American Female College Students.

This study examined the influence of psychosociocultural variables of acculturation, White attitudinal marginalization, family support, and income on perceived distress in 247 Mexican American female college students. Participants were bicultural and attended primarily White universities in the West and Southwest. Results showed that comfort with White cultural values, perceived support from family, and financial support are related to lower perceived distress for participants. Implications for counselors addressing perceived distress in Mexican American female college students are provided.

Dimensions of acculturation: Associations with health risk behaviors among college students from immigrant families.

In the present study, we examined a bidimensional model of acculturation (which includes both heritage and U.S. practices, values, and identifications) in relation to hazardous alcohol use, illicit drug use, unsafe sexual behavior, and impaired driving. A sample of 3,251 first- and second-generation immigrant students from 30 U.S. colleges and universities completed measures of behavioral acculturation; cultural values (individualism, collectivism, and self-construal); ethnic and U.S. identity; and patterns of alcohol and drug use, engagement in potentially unsafe sexual activities, and driving while (or riding with a driver who was) intoxicated. Results indicate that heritage practices and collectivist values were generally protective against health risk behaviors, with collectivist values most strongly and consistently protective. Nonetheless, heritage identifications were positively associated with sexual risk taking for Hispanics. U.S. practices, values, and identifications were not consistently related to risk behavior participation. Results are discussed in terms of bidimensional approaches to acculturation, the immigrant paradox, and implications for counseling practice.

Construction and initial validation of the Marianismo Beliefs Scale

This study reports the development and validation of the Marianismo Beliefs Scale (MBS). The MBS consists of five subscales that assess the extent to which a Latina believes she should enculturate and practice the cultural values that comprise the construct of marianismo. The results support the MBSs validity in the selection of the factors based upon an exploratory factor analysis and discriminant validity through examining the relationship of the factors with other established measures. A confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence that marianismo is a multidimensional construct.

Communalism, familism, and filial piety: Are they birds of a collectivist feather?

The present studies examined the extent to which (a) communalism, familism, and filial piety would pattern onto a single family/relationship primacy construct; (b) this construct would be closely related to indices of collectivism; and (c) this construct would be related to positive psychosocial functioning and psychological distress. In Study 1, 1,773 students from nine colleges and universities around the United States completed measures of communalism, familism, and filial piety, as well as of individualistic and collectivistic values. Results indicated that communalism, familism, and filial piety clustered onto a single factor. This factor, to which we refer as family/relationship primacy, was closely and positively related to collectivism but only weakly and positively related to individualism and independence. In Study 2, 10,491 students from 30 colleges and universities in 20 U.S. states completed measures of communalism, familism, and filial piety, as well as of positive psychosocial functioning and psychological distress. The family/relationship primacy factor again emerged and was positively associated with both positive psychosocial functioning and psychological distress. Clinical implications and future directions for the study of cultural values are discussed.

Introduction to the special issue on college student mental health.

OBJECTIVE This article provides an introduction to the special issue on college student mental health. It gives an overview of the establishment of the Multi-Site University Study of Identity and Culture (MUSIC) collaborative by a group of national experts on culture and identity. Information about the procedures used to collect a nationally represented sample of college students are provided. METHOD Data were collected from 30 university sites across the United States. The sample comprised 10,573 undergraduate college students, of which 73% were women, 63% White, 9% African American/Black, 14% Latino/Hispanic, 13% Asian American, and 1% Other. RESULTS The special issue comprises a compilation of 8 studies that used the dataset specifically created to examine the issues of emerging adults, culture, and identity. CONCLUSIONS Student mental health problems are a growing concern on college campuses. Studies covered in this special issue have implications for policy development regarding college alcohol use and traumatic victimization, include attention to underrepresented minority and immigrant groups on college campuses, and focus on positive as well as pathological aspects of the college experience.

Construction and validation of the Intragroup Marginalization Inventory.

This study reports the development and validation of the Intragroup Marginalization Inventory (IMI). The IMI consists of three scales that assess the extent to which an individual perceives interpersonal distancing from family, friends, and ethnic group community members. Intragroup marginalization is defined as the interpersonal distancing that occurs when an acculturating individual is believed to exhibit behaviors, values, and beliefs that are outside the heritage cultures group norms. Intragroup marginalization is based on social identity theory that asserts that groups maintain their identity by the distinctive behaviors of its members. When an acculturating individual displays behaviors or attitudes that differ from the heritage culture groups norms, the group may respond to the threat with social alienation of the transgressor. The results support the IMIs validity via a) content validity in the development of the items, b) construct validity in the selection of the factors based upon an exploratory factor analysis, c) the replicability of the factors based upon a confirmatory factor analysis, and d) discriminant validity through examining the relationship of the factors with other established measures.

Expanding the concept of acculturation in Mexican American rehabilitation psychology research and practice.

UNLABELLED The acculturation process is increasingly being viewed as an important variable that provides a context for understanding Mexican American health disparities. Although rehabilitation psychologists have noted the importance of utilizing acculturation in research and practice, scholars continue to use out-dated conceptualizations and models of acculturation. OBJECTIVES The authors provide a brief overview of current trends in acculturation theory and research. Limitations of current rehabilitation research and how acculturation theory can help explain Mexican American health outcomes are discussed. Finally, recommendations for rehabilitation research and practice are provided. CONCLUSIONS The authors recommend that rehabilitation scholars develop and test theoretical models that incorporate multiple dimensions of acculturation in order to understand how it influences Mexican American health outcomes. Rehabilitation professionals should incorporate acculturation theory and culturally informed interventions into rehabilitation practice with Mexican Americans.

Mentoring Ethnic Minority Students for Careers in Academia The WICHE Doctoral Scholars Program

The need for academic mentoring of ethnic minority doctoral students in counseling psychology has resulted in a call for training programs to build environments that not only provide financial assistance, but also work toward enhancing qualitative aspects of training that may be important in the students’preparations for future academic careers. This article describes the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education’s (WICHE) Doctoral Scholars Program that provides both external funding and strategies designed to encourage faculty-student mentoring. The extent to which WICHE has influenced doctoral training in the counseling psychology program at the University of Utah is described from the perspective of the WICHE director, a WICHE faculty mentor, and two WICHE doctoral scholars. The importance of the faculty mentor as a facilitative agent in the training of ethnic minority students and in helping them to prepare for careers in academia is highlighted.

Mexican Americans in Higher Education Cultural Adaptation and Marginalization as Predictors of College Persistence Intentions and Life Satisfaction

This study examined how college persistence intentions and life satisfaction influenced by acculturation, enculturation, White marginalization, and Mexican American marginalization among 515 Mexican American college students. The utility of a path analysis model was supported. Enculturation positively predicted persistence and life satisfaction. Acculturation and White marginalization positively predicted persistence. Mexican American marginalization negatively predicted persistence and life satisfaction. The model explained 4% and 10% of the variance in college persistence intentions and life satisfaction, respectively.