Racial Identity as a Predictor of the Psychological Health of African American Students at a Predominantly White University

Abstract

This study examined racial identity attitudes, acculturation, and gender as predictors of psychological health in a sample of African American college students. The participants were 136 undergraduate students who attended a predominantly White midwestern university. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that gender was a significant predictor and contributed to 3.5% of the variance in psychological health. Acculturation was a significant predictor above and beyond that accounted for by gender and contributed to 3.7% of the variance in psychological health. Finally, racial identity was a significant predictor of psychological health above and beyond that accounted for by both gender and acculturation and contributed to 20.7% of the variance in psychological health. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are offered.