Term of Award

Fall 2025

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Rebekah Estevez

Committee Member 1

Karen Naufel

Committee Member 2

Nicolette Rickert

Abstract

Although the South Asian American community is rapidly expanding in the United States (South Asian Americans Leading Together [SAALT], 2015), there remains a dearth of psychological research regarding the impacts on mental health and wellbeing affecting this diverse community. Racial microaggressions, or verbal or behavioral actions indicating hostile or negative attitudes toward marginalized individuals (Sue et al., 2007), negatively impact People of Color (POC) mental health and wellbeing (Forrest-Bank & Jenson, 2015a; Nadal, Wong, et al., 2015). Some research exists on South Asian American communities and microaggressions (Houshmand et al., 2014; Poolokasingham et al., 2014) but there is limited research using a strengths-based perspective for interventions. This specific study investigates whether social support buffers the effects of racial microaggressions on psychological wellbeing and depressive symptoms in South Asian American populations. The present study aimed to fill that gap. Linear regression moderation analyses were used to analyze the responses of 250 participants who identified as South Asian young adults (18-25). The study serves as an extension on the existing literature which individually discusses microaggressions and social relationships.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

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