Why does local identity influence mental health among university students in Hawai‘i?

Abstract

Objective: This study examines local identity and mental health at one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the United States to move beyond the dichotomy between international and domestic students. Participants: Undergraduate students (N = 1,098) attending a university in Hawai‘i completed anonymous surveys during class. Results: Self-identified local students who were born and/or raised in Hawai‘i had lower levels of depressive symptoms than non-local students, over and above their nativity status, gender, age, race/ethnicity, multiracial status, and socioeconomic background. Sobel tests further confirmed significant mediators, which suggested that locals were less psychologically distressed than non-locals because of their stronger familiarity with the “aloha spirit,” rooted in Native Hawaiian culture, and their lower risk of discrimination. Conclusions: These new findings can inform mental health services and interventions to better target non-local (international and out-of-state domestic) students by considering the stress of discrimination and the protective role of cultural values.

Keywords:

• Cultural values
• discrimination
• Hawai‘i
• local identity
• mental health

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States of America and received approval from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.

Funding

The collection of the survey data used for this study was funded by the College of Social Sciences Hawai‘i as a Research Initiative Award, the Department of Sociology Faculty Research Award and the Diversity and Equity Initiative Award from the Office of Student Equity and Excellence and Diversity at the University of Hawai‘i. No extramural funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.