144 Journal of College Counseling ■ July 2015 ■ Volume 18 © 2015 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved. Received 11/16/10 Revised 04/15/12 Accepted 05/04/12 DOI: 10.1002/jocc.12011 Ethnic Identity and Acculturative Stress as Mediators of Depression in Students of Asian Descent Crystal Lantrip, Francesco Mazzetti, Joseph Grasso, Sara Gill, Janna Miller, Morgynn Haner, Stephanie Rude, and Germine Awad This study underscored the importance of addressing the well-being of college students of Asian descent, because these students had higher rates of depression and lower positive feelings about their ethnic group compared with students of European descent, as measured by the Affirmation subscale of the Ethnic Identity Scale. Affirmation mediated the depression difference between these groups. Within the Asian group, affir- mation and depression were inversely correlated, and this relationship was mediated by acculturative stress. Keywords: depression, ethnic identity, acculturative stress, students of Asian descent C ollege can be a challenging time, and college students may experience stress as a result of academic pressure, relationships, family expectations, financial pressure, and identity development (Crocker & Luhtanen, 2003; Kadison & DiGeronimo, 2004; McCarthy, Fouladi, Juncker, & Matheny, 2006). Researchers have found that ethnic minority students in a college setting often experience more stress than do White students (Hwang & Ting, 2008; Wei et al., 2010). There are many possible reasons for this finding. Ethnic minority students often find themselves in predominantly White classrooms and social contexts, maybe for the first time in their lives (Alvarez, Blume, Cervantes, & Thomas, 2009; Hwang & Ting, 2008). Additional challenges include being the first of their family to attend higher education (Lippincott & German, 2007) and cultural conflicts stemming from increased familial and cultural obligations (Thomas & Schwarzbaum, 2006; Thomason, 1999). Furthermore, ethnic minority students may be more likely to come from a culture that emphasizes respect for authority figures, which can lead to a reduced likelihood of these students speaking in class and to their professors viewing them as disengaged (McGregor, 2006). One ethnic group that has received relatively little research attention is students of Asian descent. The reality of educational and economic inequal- ity has been minimized for Asian individuals in the United States (Ancheta, 1998), perhaps because Asians are often perceived as attaining economic and Crystal Lantrip, Francesco Mazzetti, Joseph Grasso, Sara Gill, Janna Miller, Morgynn Haner, Stephanie Rude, and Germine Awad, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Texas at Austin. Crystal Lantrip is now at Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Joseph Grasso is now at Mental Health Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Crystal Lantrip, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Neuropsychology Program, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756-0001 (e-mail: crystal.lantrip@utexas.edu).