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Online Racial Discrimination and College Student Mental Health: Social Support as a Moderator
1Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland, College Park, 3112E Benjamin Building, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
|April 9, 2025
Summary
Online racial discrimination (ORD) negatively impacts college students of color, increasing depression and anxiety. Social support can buffer these effects, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address online racism in higher education.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Public Health
Background:
- College students face racism and discrimination, impacting mental health.
- The COVID-19 pandemic increased reliance on virtual spaces, leading to more online racial discrimination (ORD).
- ORD involves demeaning or marginalizing behaviors based on race across various online platforms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the impact of direct and vicarious ORD on college student mental health.
- To compare these impacts between White students and students of color.
- To investigate the moderating role of social support.
Main Methods:
- Survey data collected from 617 undergraduate students at two urban universities during COVID-19 (Oct-Dec 2021).
- Assessed direct and vicarious online racial discrimination, depression, anxiety, flourishing, and health-related quality of life.
- Statistical analyses compared effects between racial groups and examined social support as a buffer.
Main Results:
- Both direct and vicarious ORD predicted depression and anxiety in students of color, but not in White students.
- Social support buffered the relationship between vicarious ORD and anxiety/flourishing for all students.
- Social support buffered direct ORD's impact on health-related quality of life for students of color, particularly at lower ORD levels.
Conclusions:
- Online racial discrimination poses a significant mental health risk for college students of color.
- Social support is a crucial protective factor against the negative mental health effects of ORD.
- Findings inform the development of interventions to mitigate ORD and support student well-being.
Keywords:
College studentsDirectMental health outcomesOnline racial discriminationSocial supportVicariousMore Related Videos
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