Contributions of Parenting and Campus Climate to Freshmen Adjustment in a Multiethnic Sample

Abstract

The role of parental support, hostile campus racial climate, and sense of belonging to campus in predicting psychological adjustment and drug use was examined in a sample of 319 African American and White college freshmen. No ethnic-group differences were found for mean levels of parental support, racial hostility, belonging to campus, or psychological adjustment. White adolescents reported higher levels of drug and alcohol use than did African American adolescents. Drug use was related to anxiety and depression for White adolescents but not for African American adolescents. For both ethnic groups, higher perceptions of racial hostility were related to higher levels of adjustment problems and binge drinking. Higher levels of parental support were related to lower levels of depression and loneliness for both ethnic groups. Modest support for belonging to campus as a mediator between parental support and hostile racial climate and the outcomes was found, with more evidence for African American adolescents than for White adolescents.