The Mental Health Effects of the Invisibility Syndrome in Undergraduate Students

Student Classification

Junior

Faculty Mentor

Anna K. Lee, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Psychology

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

The invisibility syndrome is a model that has been present within African Americans for decades. The invisibility syndrome is defined as when your feelings and beliefs that your personal talents, abilities, and character are not acknowledged or valued by the larger society due to racial prejudice (Franklin, 2000). The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the invisibility syndrome and mental health, including depression, anxiety, and stress, within African American male and female undergraduate students. It is hypothesized that the effects of the invisibility syndrome will lead to high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. This survey was administered online through Qualtrics using convenience sampling. The first page was used to explain to the participants what the purpose of the survey was and how to complete it. The following page consisted of the demographic questionnaire. The Invisibility syndrome scale included questions that were formulated by the researcher measuring characteristics someone experiencing invisibility syndrome symptoms would experience. Lastly the DASS 21 scale measured levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. It was hypothesized that the effects of the invisibility syndrome will lead to high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The statistical package used to analyze these results was SPSS Statistics. The results found in correlations showed there was a positive medium significance between the invisibility scale and the depression, stress, and anxiety scale. Based on the t-test, the results support the hypothesis that higher recorded scores of invisibility lead to higher recorded scores of depression, stress, and anxiety. The study aimed to identify the relationships between the invisibility syndrome in relation to the mental health (including depression, anxiety and stress) of African American undergraduate students. Findings suggest that the higher recorded scores of invisibility lead to higher recorded scores of depression, stress and anxiety.

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