Poster #75 - The Role of Emotional Closeness with Parents in Racial and Ethnic Minority College Students' Self-Efficacy

• In Event: Poster Session 15

Abstract

Racial and ethnic minority status in college often creates stress and interferes with students’ self-efficacy. Self-efficacy in turn is a critical predictor of academic achievement, college satisfaction, and persistence to graduation (Arbona, 2016; Wei et al., 2011). Prior research indicates that college students’ minority status stress is associated with their self-efficacy. In addition, the association can be mediated by increases in college stress academically and socially, and depressive symptoms, while parent-child emotional bond promotes self-efficacy (Grolnick et al., 1989). These findings suggest that the negative impact of racial and ethnic minority status stress on self-efficacy can be mitigated through strong emotional closeness with parents. Additionally, emotional closeness with each parent may have a different role in the link between their minority status stress and self-efficacy. We compared the role of emotional closeness with mothers and fathers in these direct and joint associations between racial and ethnic minority status stress, academic and social stress, and depression in predicting college self-efficacy.
We analyzed data collected from 292 racial and ethnic minority college students in 2022 (Mage=22.28 years old; 65% Female; 38% Asian American, 22% Latinx, 20% African American, 19% Multi-race/ethnicity). Racial and ethnic minority stress in college was measured using 19 items (α=.91) from Minority Status Stress Scale (Rodriguez et al., 2006). Academic stress (7 items; α=.81) and social stress (6 items; α=.81) were assessed using College Stress Scale (Rodriguez et al., 2000). Depression was measured using 10 items (α=.86) from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-10-Revised (Björgvinsson et al., 2013). College self-efficacy was measured using 20 items (α=.90) from College Self-Efficacy Inventory (Solberg et al., 1993). Lastly, 5 items from Parent-Child Relationship-Affectual Solidarity (Mangen et al., 1988) were used to measure emotional closeness with mothers (α=.94) and fathers (α=.95).
As shown in Figures 1 and 2, minority status stress was jointly associated with self-efficacy via academic stress, social stress, and depression. Both emotional closeness with mothers and fathers were directly and jointly associated with self-efficacy via college stress and depression. However, only emotional closeness with mothers had a significant relation to social stress. For both models, social stress and depression consecutively mediated the effect of minority status stress on self-efficacy (Figure1: b=-.04, se=.01, p=.004; Figure2: b=-.04, se=.01, p=.003). The successive mediation of social stress and depression in the association between emotional closeness with mothers and self-efficacy was marginally significant (b=.01, se=.01, p=.051). Depression mediated the association between emotional closeness and self-efficacy in both models (Figure1: b=.05, se=.02, p=.017; Figure2: b=.05, se=.02, p=.016). Academic stress mediated the association between minority status stress and self-efficacy only in the model of emotional closeness with fathers (b=-.04, se=.02, p=.043). In both models, models fit the data well (RMSEA=0, CFI=1, SRMR=0) with controlling effects of children’s age, gender, race and ethnicity, GPA, and household income.
This study highlighted the mechanisms by which racial and ethnic minority status stress in college was associated with self-efficacy. Racial and ethnic group differences in the paths will be examined and discussed.

Authors

• Seunghee Han, Hollins University
  Presenting Author

• Mansoo Yu, University of Missouri

• Duane Rudy, University of Missouri - Columbia