Distress and Therapeutic Outcomes for Black College Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

Download or read book Distress and Therapeutic Outcomes for Black College Students with Psychiatric Disabilities written by Kyesha Isadore and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black college students with disabilities experience unique challenges in college which are exacerbated by the need to navigate systemic racism and ableism in higher education. Students with disabilities and Black students have been found to have increased levels of distress compared to their peers. However, regarding seeking support for distress, Black students are less likely to seek services, and students who do seek services are more likely to drop out or have poorer outcomes. The purpose of this research study was to examine the effectiveness of counseling on therapeutic outcomes of psychological and academic distress for treatment-seeking Black college students with psychiatric and non-psychiatric disabilities in college counseling centers. Undergirded by QuantCrit and Pearlin's theory of psychological distress, this study measured outcomes of distress between Black and white students, between students with and without disabilities, and among students on the margins of both race/ethnicity and disability to understand the effectiveness of counseling for Black students with psychiatric and non-psychiatric disabilities. The sample consisted of Black and white college students who sought counseling services at colleges and universities between 2015-2019 at a Center for Collegiate Mental Health affiliate institution. These clients completed the CCMH Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS) and the Standardized Data Set (SDS) measures. Findings revealed that over the course of counseling, all clients experienced significant reductions in overall distress. Black clients experienced a faster reduction in symptoms compared to white clients, and Black clients with psychiatric disabilities indicated lower levels of psychological distress compared to white clients with psychiatric disabilities at the end of treatment. Further differences among Black and white clients with and without disabilities for initial distress, rates of change over the course of counseling, and final distress are reported. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed.