Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Alyssa Oland

Second Advisor

Lou Felipe

Third Advisor

Benjamin Houltberg

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Keywords

Multicultural issues, Black/African-American, Sport psychology, Student athletes, Black student athletes, Mental health

Abstract

Black student athletes exemplify the complexity of navigating intersecting identities at pivotal points in their development. They are also more likely to make premature commitments to their athletic identity and in turn suffer from psychological distress during times of transition (Beamon, 2012). The focus on Black collegiate athletes is informed by persistent mental health challenges associated with higher levels of competition or transitions (e.g., injury or retirement) within collegiate athletics (Brewer & Petitpas, 2017; Menke & Germany, 2019). This paper aims to develop culturally informed clinical considerations through the analysis of the Black student athlete experience and structural aspects of society that act as barriers to their development. Racial identity development will be reviewed through the following theoretical frameworks: Nigrescence, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Intersectionality, and Afropessimism. Considerations and practice recommendations will then be provided for use among sport psychologists, clinicians, collegiate institutions, and athletic communities to better support Black student athletes.

Copyright Date

7-14-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Jahnia Margarita Green

Provenance

Received from Author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

38 pgs

File Size

378 KB

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