Linked fate among underrepresented groups: Investigating the relationships between Black college students’ perceptions of institutional diversity climate and mental health

Abstract

Objective: Negative perceptions of institutional racial climate relate to worse mental health outcomes for Black college students. Yet, few scholars have considered how Black students’ perceptions of the institutional climate for other underrepresented groups may impact mental health. Participants and Methods: We drew on a national sample of Black college students across 15 institutions (n = 1188) to examine the effects of institutional diversity climate on students’ anxiety, depression, and positive mental health. Results: Black students who perceived the campus as more welcoming to first-generation reported higher positive mental health. Black students who perceived the campus as more welcoming to racial minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB), and low socioeconomic status (SES) students reported lower levels of depression and anxiety. Conclusions: Black students’ perceptions of the institutional diversity climate for other groups influences their mental health outcomes, and underscores the need for more research on individual-level differences in students’ mental health processes.

Keywords:

• Black college students
• diversity
• inclusion
• institutional climate
• mental health

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States of America and received approval from the University of Virginia.

Funding

The authors did not receive funding to complete the secondary data analysis. The Healthy Minds Study receives funding from various sponsors at participating higher education and post-secondary institutions.

Author contribution

The data collection was managed by the Healthy Minds Research Team. All authors contributed to the study framing and data analysis. Analyses were performed by Dr. Leath and Dr. Butler-Barnes. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dr. Leath and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors contributed to manuscript revisions and approved of the revised submission.

Availability of data

The interview data is available upon request from the respective participating institutions.