Sources of Stress for African American College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine sources of stress among African American college students at a private historically black college and university (HBCU). A convenient sample (N = 95) of students from classes in the Department of Health and Human Performance at a private southeastern historically black college and university were used for this study. Data was collected using the Inventory of College Students' Recent Life Experiences Survey. Independent t-test and analysis of variance were used to test for differences at the .05 level. Significant differences were found between gender and classification and their sources of stress. The top 5 reported sources of stress were

1) Important decisions about your education 78%; 2) Peers respect what you have to say 77%; 3) Too many things to do at once, 72.64%; 4) A lot of responsibilities 70%; and 5) Financial burdens 67.37%. Females scored higher than males for the following questions: Too many things to do at once, Separation from people you care about, Financial burdens, and Important decisions about your education. Freshmen and juniors scored higher than sophomores in regards to having difficulty with transportation. Implications and suggestions for further research for sources of stress among African American college students will be discussed.