International university students often experience acculturative stress, and culturally appropriate techniques to manage stress are needed. This randomized trial tested the effects of group assertiveness training, private expressive writing, their combination, and a wait-list control on the acculturative stress, affect, and health of 118 international students at an urban, American university. Interventions were conducted at the start of a semester, and assessments were conducted at baseline and the end of the semester. Group assertiveness training was rated positively by students and led to lower negative affect, whereas expressive writing was less well received and led to higher homesickness and fear, but also higher positive affect. The combined intervention had no effects, perhaps because the two components negated each other. It is concluded that group assertiveness training improves emotional adjustment of international students, but expressive writing has mixed effects and needs further development and study.Keywords assertiveness training; expressive writing; international students; acculturative stress; randomized clinical trial Undergraduate or graduate education can be stressful, particularly for international students who sojourn to study in another country. Unlike native students, international students need to develop bicultural competence, or second culture acquisition, as they maintain their own values while adjusting to the practical, interpersonal, and emotional challenges encountered in the host country (Mori, 2000;Noh & Kaspar, 2003;Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007;Zahi, 2002). As a result, many international students experience acculturative stress, which is a physiological and emotional reaction to a new environment that has unfamiliar cultural values, customs, and expectations (Berry, 2005), and such stress may contribute to the increased incidence of mental and physical health problems found among international students (Ryan & Twibell, 2000).International students in the U.S. increasingly coming from cultures that espouse communal or interdependent goals, such as India and China, rather than individuality, which is more Shedeh Tavakoli-Moayed and George P. Parris, Department of Counselor Education. Mark A. Lumley, Alaa M. Hijazi, and Olga M. Slavin-Spenny, Department of Psychology. Shedeh Tavakoli-Moayed is now at Argosy University, Chicago, Illinois. Publisher's Disclaimer:The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/pubs/journals/cou. commonly found in Western students. As a result, many international students tend to av...

African Americans face numerous obstacles in achieving their fullest developmental and career potentials in the current political, social, and economic environment. These barriers have produced, for the most part, workers who have been wage earners as opposed to being self-employed, and blue-collar workers rather than managers or proprietors (Daniel, 2001). This paper proposes solutions that would ensure that African American students who exhibit exceptional talent receive the kind of education to which they are entitled, in preparation for the careers of their choice. In addition to exploring the conditions that led to this underrepresentation, methods to desegregate gifted education programs and redress educational inequalities are analyzed. Specifically, the implications for counselors and teachers, those best situated to bring about positive change, will be discussed. The phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" emphasizes the ideal known as the American Dream. To this end, Americans from all walks of life have fought for and died to pursue this plethora of social, political, and economic goals that would enhance their quality of life. Many Americans can claim a starting point to their success or to the beginning of their American Dream (e.g., Ellis Island), while others can make claim to being successful within a generation of being Journal for the Education of the Gifted 418 in America. However, for many African Americans, this American Dream is yet to be fulfilled. African Americans constitute the second largest visible racial/ ethnic minority group in the United States, numbering nearly 35 million and representing slightly more than 13% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). They are also the most disadvantaged; according to the 2001 census, nearly 32% of African Americans live in poverty as compared to Hispanics, the largest visible racial/ethnic minority. African Americans are underrepresented at every level of higher education, and their unemployment rate has hovered at more than double that of their non-Hispanic, Caucasian counterparts for the last 20 years. Those who do manage to succeed educationally nevertheless earn less than non-Hispanic Caucasians with comparable education. These dramatic statistics, combined with the African American history as the victims of slavery and racial oppression, illustrate why Osipow and Fitzgerald (1996) argued that Blacks and Whites in America constitute two distinct nations. Many African American children are born into impoverished environments (Hodgkinson, 2002). Growing up in these unfortunate conditions has left them susceptible to higher rates of crime and malnourishment, poor vision, lack of medical care, and inadequate access to appropriate educational resources (Rothstein, 2004). Thus, it may be quite difficult to locate potentially gifted and talented students within low-achieving schools. The disadvantaged status of African Americans is further illustrated in the following comparative excerpt from a report by the Children's Defense Fund...