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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1529835
This article is part of the Research Topic Public Health Strategies to Improve Mental Health in the Education Sector: Perspectives and Applications View all 4 articles

Perceptions of anti-racism efforts and mental health among students in higher education in the United States

Provisionally accepted
Hans Oh Hans Oh 1,2*Nicole Karcher Nicole Karcher 3Megan Besecker Megan Besecker 1Jordan DeVylder Jordan DeVylder 4Karen Lincoln Karen Lincoln 5
  • 1 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
  • 2 University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
  • 3 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
  • 4 New York University, New York City, New York, United States
  • 5 University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    BACKGROUND: Anti-racism efforts are imperative for campus communities, yet little is known about whether perceiving their presence on campuses relates to a range of mental health outcomes among students.METHODS: We analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study 2020Study -2021 (N=110,203) (N=110,203). Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined the associations between perceptions of anti-racism efforts and several mental health outcomes. RESULTS: Individuals who disagreed that their schools combatted racism on their campus communities had significantly greater odds of mental health problems (depression, anxiety, psychotic experiences, suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, perceived need for help, and loneliness) and lower odds of flourishing when compared with those who strongly agreed with the statement. For all outcomes, we observed an apparent dose-response association.CONCLUSION: Perceiving the presence of anti-racism efforts on campuses was inversely associated with mental health problems, calling for more research to test the effects of antiracism efforts on mental health.

    Keywords: Racism, Anti-racism, Depression, Anxiety, psychosis, flourishing, college, suicid*

    Received: 17 Nov 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Oh, Karcher, Besecker, DeVylder and Lincoln. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hans Oh, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.