The college environment presents risks for the development of mental and behavioral problems, alcohol and? drug use, and nicotine dependence for those in late adolescence. The college? experience is challenging because it can elicit a range of changes in physiological, emotional, and cognitive? domains and can specifically elicit feelings of excitement, fear, and stress. This """"""""new"""""""" environment can be? especially challenging for individuals from underrepresented groups (i.e., ethnic minorities), who typically? experience poorer mental health outcomes and increased drop-out rates. Very little research, however, has? been conducted on ethnic minority individuals that explains or predicts mental health outcomes with? psychosocial variables, such as coping, or personality characteristics, such as Neuroticism. Therefore, the? goals of the proposed study are four-fold: (a) to develop a predictive model of the stress and coping process? within each ethnic minority group, (b) to make between-ethnic group comparisons (including comparisons to? Caucasians) to evaluate the similarities and differences of these predictive models, (c) to build and test a? broader conceptualization of the stress and coping process by incorporating the dimensions of the Five-? Factor model of Personality (FFM), a model referred to as the Behavioral Concordance Model (BCM); and? (d) to test for within- and between-ethnic differences with respect to the predictions of the BCM. Using an? internet-based daily diary approach, 300 ethnic minority (Mexican Americans, African Americans, Asian? Americans) and 100 Caucasian participants will complete measures that assess the daily stressors they? experience, the specific coping strategies that they employ to deal with these stressors, and indices of? psychological health over the course of 5 consecutive days. In addition, participants will complete measures? of the factors within the Five-Factor model of Personality and of cultural orientation (individualism,? collectivism). Because of the nested nature of this data (repeated observations nested with individuals),? hierarchical linear modeling will be employed to examine the proposed relations. The findings from the? proposed research will have important clinical implications. Specifically, the predictive models will identify? both maladaptive and adaptive coping repertoires within specific minority adolescent ethnic groups, thus? informing both clinicians and intervention researchers who emphasize coping skills training. Moreover, the? proposed research is also important because specific personality traits and cultural values (and their? multiplicative combination) might identify individuals who are particularly prone to use maladaptive coping? strategies.
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