Exploring the Role of Discrimination in Black College Student Clients

The recent racial uprisings in the U.S., coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, have given renewed attention to the daily manifestations of racism and racial inequities that operate in American society. Race, which is a human invention lacking a valid biological basis, has very real consequences for people from historically racially marginalized groups. Public perceptions of the presence and importance of racism suggest that racism is wide-spread and affects people of color disproportionately, particularly Black people (Pew Research Center, 2016). Indeed, recent data from the FBI found that in 2020, Black people accounted for approximately one third of people targeted by hate-based crimes due to their race (FBI, n.d.). Anti-Black racism, which describes the historical dehumanization of Black bodies, is particularly pernicious and has been shown to make Black people acutely susceptible to the harmful impacts of racism, particularly on mental health.

The Black community is growing and becoming more diverse, and experiences of discrimination are varied (Pew Research Center, 2021). For instance, Black people with college degrees are more likely to report experiencing discrimination than Black people with no college experience. Although the cause of this disparity may be manifold, the knowledge that Black people in college settings may experience higher rates of racial discrimination is troubling. Importantly, given the rise of mental health concerns during the Covid-19 pandemic among Black college students seeking counseling services, including the experience of discrimination assessed by clinicians (CCMH, 2020), one must ask how prevalent discrimination is amongst this group and how it relates to their mental health.

The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) conducts research aimed at understanding and improving college student mental health, including the mental health care for Black college students (BSCs). To further explore UCC clients’ experience of discrimination, in July 2021, CCMH implemented novel items on the Standardized Data Set (SDS) inquiring whether the clients “experienced discrimination or unfair treatment due to any of the following parts of their identity” in the past six months: (1) disability; (2) gender; (3) nationality/county of origin; (4) race/ethnicity/culture; (5) religion; (6) and sexual orientation. In the current blog, these new items were further examined to better understand the experience and presenting concerns of BSCs seeking college counseling services nationally. Specifically, the following questions were explored:

  • What percentage of BSCs self-report experiencing any form of discrimination or unfair treatment in the past 6 months?
  • Do BSCs who self-report discrimination or unfair treatment enter services with more distress than those who do not?

Data were collected from 88,136 students who sought services from 160 college counseling centers between July 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Items from the Standardized Data Set (SDS) and subscales within Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS) were utilized to answer the questions.

Demographic characteristics of BSCs

In this dataset, 6,423 students identified as Black (including 334 international students) from 146 counseling centers, which was 7.3% of the total sample of students. Within the BSCs, 65.7% identified as women, 25.1% identified as men, 0.2% identified as transgender women, 0.3% identified as transgender men, 3.4% identified as non-binary gender, and 0.8% chose self-identified gender. In this sample, 29.8% identified as sexual minority or questioning, 30.0% identified as first-generation college students, 78.9% identified as undergraduate students, and 8.7% reported having a documented and diagnosed disability. Around 13.7% of BSCs reported their financial situation as “always stressful” at the present time, and 9.9% reported growing up in “always stressful” financial situations. In terms of religion, 51.8% reported preference for a form of organized religion, and 15.6% reported religion to be “very important” in their lives.

Question 1: What percentage of BSCs report experiencing any form of discrimination or unfair treatment in the past 6 months?

Of the 6,423 BSCs included in this dataset, information on discrimination were only available for 1,808 BSCs (28.1%) from 34 counseling centers, as 76.7% of counseling centers did not implement these newly created items. The following graph summarizes the percentages of the 1,808 BSCs who endorsed experiencing the various forms of discriminations in the past 6 months. Approximately 27.1% of the sampled BSCs reported experiencing racial/ethnic/cultural (R/E/C) discrimination in the past 6 months. Of these BSCs who experienced R/E/C discrimination in the past 6 months, 64.9% identified as women, 6.5% identified as gender minority, 37.5% identified as sexual minority or questioning, 3.1% were international students, and 13.3% reported having disabilities.

Question 2: Do BSCs who report discrimination or unfair treatment present to services with more distress than those who do not?

The distress levels on the CAPS subscales were examined to compare the overall sample of college students seeking services, the total BSCs sample, BSCs who did not report any discrimination, and those who reported discrimination(s). Specifically, the following four comparison groups were created:

  • Overall sample of all college student clients (N = 73,927)
  • Overall sample of BSCs (N = 5,302)
  • BSCs who did not report any form of discrimination in the past 6 months (N = 1,017)
  • BSCs who reported only racial/ethnic/cultural (R/E/C) discrimination (N = 221)
  • BSCs who reported forms of discrimination other than R/E/C discrimination (N = 61)
  • BSCs who reported racial/ethnic/cultural discrimination in combination with another form of discrimination (N = 192)

The following graphs display these comparisons. The overall BSC sample scored higher on a few CCAPS subscales, including Depression, Academic Stress, Frustration/Anger, and General Distress compared to the total client sample but lower on Anxiety, Eating concerns, and Alcohol Use.

Within the BSC sample, students who endorsed any form of discrimination scored higher on all CCAPS subscales (Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Academic Distress, Eating Concerns, Frustration/Anger, Alcohol Use, and General Distress) compared to those who reported no discrimination. Additionally, BSCs who reported racial/ethnic/cultural discrimination in combination with another form of discrimination scored the highest across all groups in the areas of Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Academic Distress, Frustration/Anger, and General Distress.

 

Summary and Implications

In this blog, CCMH examined the experiences of self-reported discrimination and mental health distress among Black students seeking treatment from the July 2021 through December 2021. A summary of the findings and implications are offered below:

Summary of Findings

  • Among the 1,808 BSCs who completed the SDS Discrimination Items, 27.1% reported experiencing racial/ethnic/cultural (R/E/C) discrimination in the past 6 months. Among the other five identity domains, including gender, sexual orientation, nationality/county of origin, disability and religion, reported rates of discrimination were respectively 9.9%, 6.1%, 3%, 2.5%, and 1.6%.
  • BSCs exhibited higher psychological distress in the areas of Depression, Academic Stress, and Frustration/Anger compared to all students seeking services, but lower on Anxiety, Eating concerns, and Alcohol Use.
  • Within the BSC sample, students who endorsed any form of discrimination scored higher on all CCAPS subscales (Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Academic Distress, Eating Concerns, Frustration/Anger, Alcohol Use, and General Distress) compared to those who reported no discrimination.
  • BSCs who reported racial/ethnic/cultural discrimination in combination with another form of discrimination scored the highest across all groups in the areas of Depression, Generalized Anxiety, Academic Distress, Frustration/Anger, and General Distress.

Implications

It is clear that BSCs are entering counseling services with comparatively higher levels of distress in several areas, which is compounded by their experience of discrimination(s). BSCs would benefit from clinicians helping them to understand the cumulative effects of minority stress, specifically discrimination, on their psychological functioning. Subsequently, clinicians can help clients develop culturally relevant coping strategies to help off-set the effects of discrimination on their mental health. Importantly, because depression was highest among BSCs in general, clinicians are encouraged to routinely assess risk given the rise in suicidality among Black students, particularly those with multiple culturally minoritized identities. Moreover, the cluster of symptoms for BSCs suggests that racial discrimination be viewed through a trauma lens, necessitating intersectional trauma-informed care (Carter, 2007; Pieterse et al, 2012).

Second, these findings should motivate counseling centers and clinicians to begin using the Discrimination Items on the SDS to inform services provided to BSCs, as only 23.3% of counseling centers have implemented these newly developed items thus far. Importantly, clinicians would benefit from broaching conversation about BSCs experiences of discrimination, even if it is not endorsed on the SDS. There is ample evidence attesting to the advantages of addressing racialized concerns with BSCs, including better therapy and clinical outcomes for clients (Knox, 2003). Clinicians must also recognize that racialized experiences can be highly stressful and can lead to, or exacerbate the type of psychological distress most frequently endorsed by BSCs in this study (Paradies et al, 2015; CCMH, 2021); to overlook racialized experiences as a clinical concern can negatively impact the care of BSCs. Simultaneously, counseling centers would benefit from increased training for counseling center staff on the use of the SDS Discrimination Items to provide culturally informed care. Furthermore, it is imperative that counseling centers assess how best to support the unique needs of BSCs, which may include the recruitment and retention of Black staff, specialized training on best practices for working with Black students, and routinely assessing and making corrections to clinical operations to ensure culturally appropriate, anti-racist, and welcoming/inclusive services are afforded to BSCs.

Finally, there has been renewed widespread condemnation regarding the systemic racism against Black people embedded within American society, including among subcultures within higher education. While data regarding the specific source of the discrimination was not collected from students, the high prevalence of reported discrimination and psychological distress in this study highlights concerns about BSCs experiences of discrimination, unfair treatment, and microaggressions on college campuses. Although it is encouraging that colleges and universities have committed to anti-racist platforms, the data presented sends a clear message that more must be done to better understand and respond to the unique experiences of Black students. Therefore, it is recommended that colleges and universities increase their efforts in not only strengthening mental health services on their campuses, but also implementing institutional change with the expressed intention of improving the overall well-being of Black college students. Some of these actions might include acknowledgement of the discrimination enacted against Black students at their institutions, a commitment to funding DEI initiatives, support for racial justice activities, and enacting, or strengthening accountability policies for students and staff who perpetuate any form of racism. These changes would hopefully affirm the positions of these institutions that the Lives of Black college students Matter.

Conclusion

Through our preliminary investigation in this blog post, we explored the prevalence of discrimination within BSCs and the relationship to levels of mental health distress, derived some insight for clinicians working with BSCs in the UCC setting, and suggested future directions to explore in combatting racism and discrimination towards BSCs. Overall, this data lends support to the recognition of discrimination as a significant determinant of health that contributes greatly to poor mental health disparities witnessed in the Black community, particularly among Black college students. It is incumbent upon colleges and universities to address discrimination and its impact at all levels of the institution in order to effectively identify, manage, protect against, and provide support for this ongoing societal problem (Rates of Discrimination, CCMH 2020).


 This blog post was written by CCMH Business Team member, Hongjun Tan, M.S and Sultan Aquil Nafis Magruder, Ph.D. Hongjun is a Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology at PSU and a part of the Castonguay Lab. Dr. Magruder is a licensed staff psychologist and DEI coordinator at Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services.

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