Risk taking profiles among college students: An examination of health-risk taking, anti-racism action, and college functioning

Abstract

Objective: This study expands the literature on risk taking among college students by exploring anti-racism action as a form of positive risk taking. Participants: 346 Black (64%) and Latinx (36%) college students (85% female) ages 18–27 years (M = 18.75, SD = 1.31). Methods: Participants responded to questionnaires on anti-racism action, health-risk taking, and college functioning. Latent class analysis identified behavioral profiles of risk takers. Indicators of profile membership and associations with college functioning were examined. Results: Three profiles emerged: moderate overall risk taking, high health-risk taking, and high anti-racism action. Personal experience with discrimination was associated with a greater likelihood of health-risk taking. Students in the high anti-racism profile evinced greater educational functioning than those in the high-health risk taking profile. Conclusions: Risky behavior on college campuses is not homogeneous. Specific interventions and support networks are necessary to support students falling within specific risk profiles.

Keywords:

• Anti-racism
• critical civic engagement
• college functioning
• health risk behavior
• risk taking

Acknowledgments

The writing of this article was supported, in part, by postdoctoral and predoctoral fellowships provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [T32-HD07376] through the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to Natasha Duell and N. Keita Christophe.

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 the United States and received approval from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Funding

The writing of this article was supported, in part, by postdoctoral and predoctoral fellowships provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [T32-HD07376] through the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to Natasha Duell and N. Keita Christophe.