Ronald E. McNair Program


Crystal Armstrong
Name: Crystal Nakia Armstrong
School: The University of Mississippi
Major: Psychology
Mentor: Dr. Kelly G. Wilson
Expected Graduation Date: May 2008 
Organizations & Honors: 
  • Chancellor’s Honor Roll
  • Dean’s List  
  • National Dean’s List 
  • Who’s Who Among Collegiate Scholars 
  • Alpha Lamba Delta Honor Society 
  • Psi Chi Honor Society 
  • Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society 
  • Big Brothers/Big Sisters (Boys & Girls Club) 
  • Ronald E. McNair Scholar 
E-MAIL: cnarmstr@olemiss.edu 

ABSTRACT

Valued Living and Psychological Distress Among African American College Students

The purpose of this study was to reexamine valued living and its relationship to psychological distress in a sample of African American college students by using a Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) and the Butcher Treatment Planning Inventory (BTPI) to determine whether the African American sub sample produced results equivalent to those of the original sample from which it was taken. The original sample was predominately European American. In this study there were a total of 69 African American students from the University of MS used as participants. 
 
In the African American sub sample, results showed significantly negative correlations between fewer domains of suffering (Relationship Problems,-.26 and Anger-In,-.34), than the European American sample who had correlations with all of the domains except Anger-In. This information revealed that psychological research that is primarily based on European American samples might not generalize to include individuals from minority cultures.