Stress, School Satisfaction, Attitudes Toward Professional Help-Seeking, Levels of Perceived Social Support, and Involvement in Race/Ethnic Based Organizations for Asian Americans at the Claremont Colleges

• Main Author: Wang, Catherine S.
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2013
• Subjects: stress; school satisfaction; attitudes toward professional help seeking; support; race based organization; race based mentoring program; Asian Americans; Community Psychology; Race and Ethnicity
• Online Access: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/278; http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1194&context=scripps_theses

The present study sought to examine Asian American college stress and school satisfaction for Claremont Colleges students. Participants completed a survey which will include four measures: Attitudes Toward Professional Help-Seeking (Halgin, Weaver, Edell & Spencer, 1987), modified Social Support Scale (Duran, Oetzel, Lucero, Jiang, Novins, Manson, & Beals, 2005), College Student Stress Scale (Feldt, 2008), the School Satisfaction Scale (Butler, 2007), and questions about the participant’s involvement in race-based, and non-race-based organizations and mentoring programs. Asian Americans are unsupported because of their academic performance and thus receive less institutional support (Kiang & Lee, 1993). The stigma of mental health problems is significantly and negatively related to attitudes toward professional help seeking in the Asian American community (Masuda & Boone, 2011). Race-based organizations and mentoring programs facilitate adjustment to college through providing a community and ways to explore one’s identity (Kim, Goto, Bai, Kim, & Wong, 2001; Museus, 2008). It was expected that attitudes toward help seeking and support would be significantly different between Asian Americans and Whites. It was expected that involvement in ethnic-/race-based organizations and mentor programs would mediate the relationship between demographics and satisfaction, support and stress. Results revealed significantly different attitudes toward help seeking between Asian Americans and Whites. Involvement in race-based organization and mentoring program predicted school satisfaction. Involvement in a race-based mentoring program predicted stress. Implications of this study are discussed in relation to literature, clinicians, and on-campus support services.