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Objective/Participants: In a large, diverse sample of college students (N = 2,230), this online study investigated racial/ethnic differences on type of discriminatory event experienced and perceived stress, and whether discrimination-related stress was associated with mental health symptoms. Methods: Prevalence of lifetime/past year discriminatory events was assessed and frequency of discrimination-related stress was compared across racial/ethnic groups. Correlations between discrimination-related stress and mental health symptoms were also examined. Results: All racial/ ethnic groups reported experiencing all types of discriminatory events, though prevalence was lowest for White students. Racial/ethnic minority (i.e., Asian, Black, Latinx) students reported greater discrimination-related perceived stress compared to White, non-Hispanics. Across all racial/ethnic groups, discrimination-related stress was positively associated with negative mental health outcomes (e.g., anxiety/depressive symptoms). Conclusions: These results highlight the need to continue efforts to reduce discriminatory experiences of racial/ethnic minority students and to incorporate antiracism interventions in universities to mitigate the pervasive negative experiences of minority students.

Disciplinary charges and sanctions at the K-12 level that previously demonstrated racial bias toward underrepresented racial groups (URGs) in both the severity of charge and sanction in the literature may continue to higher education; URGs received higher charges and sanctions in similar cases involving their White peers. We analyzed 4,761 disciplinary cases over seven years to determine if race, sex, or citizenships played a predictive role in severity of charge and sanction at a predominantly White institution. White students received higher charges than students from URGs. URGs received higher sanctions. URGs status predicted both higher charge and sanctions when less severe.

Typically developing young adults perceive their peers with autism more negatively than those without autism, but less so when they have experience with individuals with autism. Study 1 examined whether typically developing university students' (n = 70) judgments of their peers would differ as a function of interpersonal contact and being labeled as autistic. Perceptions of peers with autism were consistent with stereotypes about autism and were associated with contact. In Study 2, typically developing university students (n = 130) imagined interacting with a student with manipulations of perseverative behavior and the label of autism. Attitudes towards individuals with autism were more positive following an imagined contact scenario with a peer demonstrating perseverative behavior with a label of autism.

The current study sought to characterize implicit bias toward children with autism and examine whether viewing educational materials about autism would change attitudes toward children with autism. A website developed by Sesame Street containing information about autism and resources for families was distributed to parents of children with autism (n = 473) and parents of children without autism (n = 707). Pre- and post-test measures of implicit bias toward children with autism; explicit attitudes and knowledge about autism; and parenting confidence, strain, and stigma were completed before and after the website was presented. Results indicated that parents of children with autism showed less implicit bias compared with those of non-autistic children during the pre-test, but the groups did not differ at the post-test. Parents without autistic children and those with more negative explicit attitudes showed a greater reduction in implicit bias from the pre- to the post-test. In addition, for parents of children with autism, a more positive change in explicit attitudes and increased knowledge from the pre- to the post-test was associated with more empowerment at the post-test. Together, our findings suggest that the online educational resources can reduce implicit bias against children with autism and help mitigate some of the psychological issues associated with parenting children with autism.

Underrepresented students have less knowledge of research experiences available on campus and are less likely to feel supported by faculty than represented students. To address these issues and increase the number of underrepresented undergraduate researchers, faculty at the College of William & Mary created the William & Mary Scholars Undergraduate Research Experience (WMSURE). Community-based and participatory research methods were used to work with students in developing research questions and in collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data about their academic and personal experiences. This led to the development of academic and research advising services, workshops, faculty education, and research funding to support underrepresented students. This article evaluates the program. Results suggest that the WMSURE program has increased research opportunities and feelings of support on campus.

The confrontation of prejudicial acts and comments promotes multiple benefits, most notably the prevention of future prejudicial remarks and the reduction of stereotype use. Research, however, consistently shows low rates of confronting prejudice, particularly regarding sexism. Here, we examine whether personal sense of power, known to increase action and activate the behavioral approach system, increases the likelihood of confronting a sexist remark. In Study 1, we demonstrate that for both women and men, self-reported power is associated with a higher frequency of confronting sexism. In Study 2, we manipulate women's sense of power (i.e., high power, low power, or control) and subsequently present an opportunity to confront a sexist remark. Results show that women primed to feel powerful were more likely to confront the sexist remark and expressed greater disagreement with the comment, compared to women primed to feel powerless. Implications for the confronting literature and behavior are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The goal of the present study was to investigate neural responses to smoking cues in preadolescent children of smokers and nonsmokers. Method: To accomplish this, we recruited 111 8-12-year-old children (Mage = 122.13 months; SD = 17.41; 50 female) and their parents. Participants were presented with 60 pictures of smoking-related and control cues that were matched in color, intensity, and size in random order on a computer screen. Pictures depicted people interacting with the relevant objects or the relevant objects were presented alone. Neural activity in the form of electroencephalogram was recorded during the presentation of the pictures, and event-related potentials elicited by these stimuli were examined. Parents answered questions about how often they smoked cigarettes and about their motives for smoking. Results: Results demonstrated that P3 amplitude was larger to smoking-related cues compared to non-smoking-related cues for children of smokers in the central, parietal, and occipital regions. This effect was only seen for pictures depicting people interacting with the stimuli (e.g., a person holding a cigarette). In contrast, responses did not differ across conditions in children of nonsmokers. Moreover, P3 amplitudes were larger for children of parents who reported that smoking provided greater positive and negative reinforcement. Conclusions: These findings provide important insights about the mechanisms involved in the relationship between parental and child smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that alcohol increases race-biased responding via impairment of self-regulatory cognitive control. Participants consumed either a placebo or alcohol and then made speeded responses to stereotypic trait words presented after White and Black face primes while behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) data were recorded. Alcohol did not affect stereotype activation in either experiment. Experiment 2 showed that alcohol significantly impaired the ability to inhibit race-biased responses but did not reliably influence control of counterstereotypic responses. This disinhibition appears driven by impairment of regulative cognitive control, as indexed by amplitude of the negative slow wave ERP component. These findings suggest that controlling racial bias can be a function of effective implementation of basic self-regulatory processes in addition to the motivational processes identified in other research. Keywords: alcohol, stereotypes, response inhibition, cognitive control, event-related potentials

The role of response conflict in understanding stereotype congruence effects in a reaction time task is discussed. Event related potential data showed that the behavioral effect was due to response conflict in the experiment that was conducted.