Linthicum, Chantelle Racial Identity Invalidation, Depression, and Loneliness: The Roles of Perceived Social Support, Pride, and Sense of School Membership in Multiracial College Students. 2025. Radford University, Dissertation. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
College students who identify as multiracial may face additional stressors or barriers in contrast to monoracial peers. Racial identity invalidation is a misalignment between an individual’s self-identified racial identity and the way others perceive them; these experiences can lead to increased negative mental health outcomes, such as depression and loneliness. Although there may be challenges associated with multiracial identity, aspects of positive mental health, such as pride in identity, may serve as protective factors. Utilizing the minority stress theory as a framework, this study examined sense of school belonging, perceived social support, and multiracial pride as moderators for the association between racial identity invalidation and depression and loneliness. Participants were 280 multiracial college students recruited through social media posts and Prolific (www.prolific.com, London, UK). As hypothesized, racial identity invalidation was positively and moderately associated with depression and loneliness; however, school belonging, multiracial pride, and perceived social support were found to be much more strongly associated with negative mental health outcomes. It was found that racial identity invalidation significantly predicted loneliness when perceived sense of school membership was high with a medium sized effect. Racial identity invalidation significantly predicted depression when participants’ levels of multiracial pride were low with a medium sized effect, and high with a large sized effect. Racial identity invalidation significantly predicted loneliness when participants’ levels of perceived social support were high with a small effect. The results underscore the need for continued research exploring racial identity invalidation in the population, as well as alternative constructs for measuring multiracial pride.
| Item Type: | Dissertation |
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Nov 2025 23:58 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Nov 2025 23:58 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/1270 |
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