Relational Health, Ethnic Identity, and Well-Being of College Students of Color: A Strengths-Based Perspective

Within the framework of relational-cultural theory, the current study examined how relational health and ethnic identity contribute to overall well-being in a sample of college students of color. A total of 229 students completed measures of relational health, ethnic identity, indicators of subjecti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Counseling psychologist 2014-05, Vol.42 (4), p.473-496
Main Authors: Schmidt, Christa K, Piontkowski, Sarah, Raque-Bogdan, Trisha L, Ziemer, Kathryn Schaefer
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
College students
Correlation
Counseling
Counseling psychology
Cultural identity
Ethnic identity
Ethnicity
Health
Health status
Mental health
Minority Group Students
Multivariate Analysis
Physical Health
Psychologists
Racial Identification
Subjective wellbeing
Undergraduate students
Wellbeing
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Summary:Within the framework of relational-cultural theory, the current study examined how relational health and ethnic identity contribute to overall well-being in a sample of college students of color. A total of 229 students completed measures of relational health, ethnic identity, indicators of subjective well-being (SWB), and perceptions of physical health. Canonical correlation analyses revealed two patterns of relationships between the variable sets: (a) students who reported lower scores in ethnic identity and in peer, mentor, and community relationships, also demonstrated lower SWB and fewer days in good health, and (b) students who reported high relational health in peer and mentor domains, but lower scores for ethnic identity, had higher reports of both positive and negative affect, as well as both good and poor health. These preliminary findings reflect the complexity of how ethnic identity and relational health differentially predict the well-being of college students of color. The implications of these findings for counseling psychologists are discussed.
ISSN:0011-0000
1552-3861
DOI:10.1177/0011000014523796