Black Women College Students’ Use of Mental Health Services and Coping Methods for Emotional Support

Abstract

The present study explored the ways in which Black women college students support themselves emotionally in the face of racism and sexism at their predominantly White colleges and universities (PWIs). Intersectional theory (Crenshaw, 1991) and invisibility theory (Helms, 2017) were used to guide the study. Intersectional theory proposes that Black women college students at PWI colleges and universities experience intersectional racism-sexism in the form of hostile climate factors. Invisibility theory proposes that Black women college students may feel invisible because they experience racist-sexist, hostile climate factors and, as a result, may be at risk for developing mental health issues. Participants were eight Black women college students, ages 18 to 22 years, who identified with a range of sexual orientations, locations of origin, and academic interests, and were attending universities that varied in terms of prestige and cost. Narrative inquiry and analysis of interviews was used to allow Black women’s narratives to center their individual life experiences of coping with racism-sexism. Four research themes that guided the study were (a) the nature of Black women college students’ perceived racist-sexist hostile climate factors at their PWI colleges and universities, (b) the extent to which their experiences with racism-sexism influenced their emotional health, (c) what services or activities the women used to cope with emotional issues if they occurred, and (d) the extent to which shame and stigmatization influenced their use or nonuse of formal mental health treatment when experiencing emotional health problems. Results demonstrated that consistent with intersectional theory, participants experienced racist/sexist, hostile climate factors before and during college— primarily through academic microaggressions from teachers and college professors. Consistent with invisibility theory, many of the participants experienced emotional health problems that they linked to their experiences of racist/sexist, hostile climate factors. Implications include the need for further research on Black women college students’ experiences of racism/sexism and their subsequent mental health experiences and the need for clinicians to address Black women college students’ experiences of racism-sexism in treatment.