Minority status stress and coping processes among African American college students.

Black students may report similar stress levels regardless of their university's racial composition.

“While Black students may report similar levels of stress regardless of the racial composition of their university (Greer & Brown, 2011)”

Chronic John Henryism when the root cause of stress cannot be changed may lead to health deterioration.

“chronic use of John Henryism in situations where the root cause of stress cannot be changed or addressed, such as negative academic stereotypes toward Black students and race-based mistreatment, may lead to a deterioration of health (Greer & Brown, 2011; Neighbors et al., 2007).”

Negative race-related interactions are also significant stressors for students at HBCUs.

“negative race-related interactions are also significant sources of stress among students attending HBCUs (Greer, 2008; Greer & Brown, 2011).”

The MSSS total score showed internal consistency in the present sample (α = .96), consistent with prior Black samples (α .93-.97).

“Studies utilizing the MSSS scores among Black samples have documented Cronbach’s alphas of .93 to .97 (Greer & Brown, 2011; McClain et al., 2016), which is in line with the current study (sample α = .96).”

Scholars have reported high correlations among MSSS subscales and used an overall total score to address redundancy.

“scholars have reported high correlations between subscales (e.g., rs =.51; Greer, 2008) and have subsequently utilized an overall total score to address redundancy (Cokley et al., 2013; Greer & Brown, 2011).”

The HBCU environment may cultivate a more supportive and affirming climate relative to PWIs, enabling individuals to navigate their identity around those with similar life experiences.

“Accordingly, the HBCU environment may cultivate a more supportive and affirming climate relative to PWIs (Greer & Brown, 2011), wherein individuals are more readily able to navigate their identity around individuals who share similar life experiences.”

Chronic reliance on active coping may increase risk for physical and psychological outcomes over time, especially when stressors are outside one's control.

“First, chronic reliance on active coping may actually increase risk for physical and psychological outcomes over time (Matthews et al., 2013; Volpe et al., 2020), especially when stressors are outside of one’s own control (Greer & Brown, 2011).”