Social Class Stressors? A Systematic Review of First-Generation College Students' Negative Emotions

• In Event: Sociocultural Influences on Learning, Leadership, and Friendships

Abstract

First-generation college students face unique challenges. Yet, it remains unclear whether such students’ negative emotions actually differ in intensity from their continuing-generation peers and how this intensity varies within specific domains (e.g., academics and social relationships). We conducted a systematic review of first-generation college students’ negative emotions (i.e., anxiety, depression and stress), resulting in 38 papers. Surprisingly, when negative emotions were measured generally (i.e., without reference to specific domains), nearly all papers found no significant differences between the two groups. When focusing on specific domains, findings were mixed yet largely consistent with Cultural Mismatch Theory. Specifically, interdependently-oriented first-generation students often experienced more negative emotions when interdependence was threatened, while this pattern was reversed when interdependence was promoted.

Authors

• Dean Rockwell, University of California - San Diego

• Sasha Kimel, California State University - San Marcos