Minority stress and depression among Black college students: investigating the protective contributions of faculty support and coping

Black college students face increased risk for depressive symptoms due to chronic exposure to systemic and interpersonal stressors. In addition to stressors typical of the college transition (e.g., academic pressures, homesickness, psychological well-being, peer relationships), Black students must also navigate racial stress present within the various dimensions of their institutional environment. Structural inequality, mental health disparities, and the compounding effects of racial and non-racial stress threaten Black students’ psychological well-being and serve as barriers to access to institutional resources. Though effective as primary social support, peer and kinship networks may be limited in providing adequate support for campus climate-based stressors. Black college students’ ability to cultivate and apply effective coping strategies becomes critical to developing healthy psychological stress responses and navigating the demands of college life. Prior scholarship on Black students’ stressful experiences, social support, adjustment, and sense of belonging highlights the pivotal role of faculty interactions. However, yet to be considered are the potential links between faculty support and Black students’ coping strategies that protect Black students’ psychological well-being from adverse risks of campus climate stress. To address this gap, the present study examined the moderating effects of faculty support and coping behaviors on the relationship between minority student stress and depressive symptoms among Black college students. A sample of 238 Black undergraduate students (M = 19.6 years, [SD = 2.68]; 82.7% female; 15.2 % male; and 2.2% gender non-conforming) completed an online survey of measures which captured student perceptions of faculty support, minority student stress, coping behaviors, and depressive symptoms. Contrary to study hypotheses, no significant moderating effects of faculty support or coping behaviors were found. Additionally, faculty support was not significantly associated with minority student stress. Findings suggest a link between high faculty support and low depressive symptoms, lower levels of disengagement and maladaptive coping behaviors, and high levels of adaptive coping behaviors among the present sample of Black college students. Findings also point to maladaptive coping behaviors as the strongest predictor of depressive symptoms in the study. Overall, study findings echo calls for postsecondary institutions to adopt systems and policies to create a campus culture which endorses caring and validating faculty interactions for Black college students to assist in combating maladaptive coping techniques and lower risk of depressive symptoms. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Bradford, Kayla

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Drabick, Deborah A.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Xie, Hongling
• Chor, Elise
• Klugman, Joshua
• Briand, Lisa A.
• Alloy, Lauren B.

• Developmental psychology
• Black college students
• Coping behavior
• Faculty support
• Minority stress
• Social support
• Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/12251

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/12251