Risk taking profiles among college students: An examination of health-risk taking, anti-racism action, and college functioning.

CORPORATE culture; RISK-taking behavior; HEALTH attitudes; RESEARCH funding; UNIVERSITIES & colleges; QUESTIONNAIRES; LOGISTIC regression analysis; STRUCTURAL equation modeling; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; MEMBERSHIP; CHI-squared test; ANTI-racism; EXPERIENCE; ODDS ratio; HEALTH behavior; ACADEMIC achievement; SOCIAL adjustment; COLLEGE students; DISCRIMINATION (Sociology); CONFIDENCE intervals

Objective: This study expands the literature on risk taking among college students by exploring anti-racism action as a form of positive risk taking. Participants: 346 Black (64%) and Latinx (36%) college students (85% female) ages 18–27 years (M = 18.75, SD = 1.31). Methods: Participants responded to questionnaires on anti-racism action, health-risk taking, and college functioning. Latent class analysis identified behavioral profiles of risk takers. Indicators of profile membership and associations with college functioning were examined. Results: Three profiles emerged: moderate overall risk taking, high health-risk taking, and high anti-racism action. Personal experience with discrimination was associated with a greater likelihood of health-risk taking. Students in the high anti-racism profile evinced greater educational functioning than those in the high-health risk taking profile. Conclusions: Risky behavior on college campuses is not homogeneous. Specific interventions and support networks are necessary to support students falling within specific risk profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]