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Volume 03
Journal of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Science
Mental Health 2019
November 13-14, 2019
November 13-14, 2019 | London, UK
WORLD CONGRESS ON MENTAL HEALTH
Clin Psychol Cog Sci, Volume 03
A smartphone-based intervention to buffer the negative effects of perceived
discrimination among ethnic minority college students
Nina Parvizi
California Polytechnic State University, USA
W
e present a smartphone-based self-affirmation App that has been designed to help buffer ethnic minority college students
from the negative effects of perceived ethnic discrimination experienced on campus. Self-affirmation theory suggests
that if an individual is threatened (i.e., devalued) in an important area of the self (such as being denigrated for being a part of a
particular racial/ethnic social group), then affirming a different area of the self (e.g., reminding individuals of the important values
that they hold), can diffuse the threat by dampening stress responses. Self-affirmation writing interventions have successfully
helped prevent academic decline (i.e., grade point average) among African-American and Latino/Hispanic college students in
the United States. These self-affirmation writing interventions have been delivered through paper-and-pencil and have not yet
been tested using mobile technologies. We present descriptive statistics and qualitative analyses of a pilot smartphone study
conducted with Latino- and Asian-heritage college students at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
(Cal Poly). The participants completed a two-week daily diary on their smartphones. In addition, they completed an initial
intake survey and 2-month follow-up survey. The survey included measures of psychological well-being, health risk behaviors
(alcohol, drug use, and nutrition), sense of belonging to the campus community, grade point average, and general physical health.
Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (who completed the self-affirmation intervention) and a control
group (who completed a no affirmation writing exercise). Ethnic minority students at Cal Poly reported experiencing significant
microaggressions on campus. Participants further reported that the App was easy to use and not overly burdensome in terms of
time commitment. The App’s potential use in educational and therapeutic settings is discussed.
ninaparvizi@yahoo.com