4 - (SYM 27) Portfolio of Resilience in the Face of Adversity and Mental Health Challenges Among Female Parenting Undergraduate Students: A Mixed Method Approach

Background:  Of the 4 million students raising children while attending U.S. colleges, nearly 3 million are female parenting undergraduate (FPU) students, among which 62% are single mothers, and mostly hailing from minority racial and ethnic groups (Institute of Women’s Policy Research, 2018).To support FPU students navigating parenthood and education, while facing unique challenges affecting their mental health and academic persistence, it's important to explore factors that can ease these difficulties. Drawing upon Grych et al.’s (2015) resilience portfolio model, this mixed methods study aimed to investigate the role of resilience factors, including resources and assets, and psychological health, on depressive symptoms among FPU students, with a focus on Black and Latina mothers.

Method: Surveying 164 FPU students (age: 18-48 years; M_age/SD = 27.98/5.69; 15.2% Black, 23.8% Hispanic/Latina) recruited from FPU listservs and a large Hispanic serving university in South Texas, along with interviews of 18 Latinas and Black mothers (age range: 23 to 30 years), this study utilized hierarchical regression, thematic analysis, and data integration techniques (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017).

Results: High exposure to violence (96.3%) was found among participants, with 87.8% at risk of depression. Regression analyses indicated that exposure to violence (Step 1), specifically childhood trauma (β=.498, p< .001) increased depression scores, while availability of resources and assets (Step 2), such as self-regulation (β= -.274, p<.01) and interpersonal strengths (β= -.176, p<.05), and psychological health (Step 3), particularly psychological wellbeing (β= -.213, p<.05) correlated with decrease in depressive symptoms. Thematic insights identified resources, assets, and psychological wellbeing as crucial factors for Latina and Black mothers. However, disparities emerged, with Latina mothers emphasizing the significance of friendships and facing challenges accessing broader community and social services and higher education institution support, and immigration related stress. In contrast, Black mothers benefitted from macro-level support but lacked peer support and faced deficits in family financial assistance.

 

Conclusion: Findings extend our comprehension of resilience factors that shape the experiences of FPU students especially Black and Latina mothers, highlighting the importance of tailoring mental health, social, and education-related services (financial aid programs) to address the unique needs of each group.