Approximately 2/3 of U.S. children will experience at least one trauma before the age of 16. Youth of color are disproportionately exposed to traumatic events, including discrimination, a major risk factor for psychological distress. There is a dearth of research on the types of discrimination youth of color experience and their respective relations with specific posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), including hyperarousal, persistent negative mood, avoidance, and intrusion. The purpose of the current study was to examine the prevalence of different types of discrimination (e.g., racism, sexism, agism) amongst youth of color, test associations between unique forms of discrimination and specific PTSS, and examine potential moderators of these associations. Participants were 498 Black (57.0%) and Latinx clinic referred youth (9 18 years, 55.2% female). Discrimination based on physical appearance was most commonly endorsed (39.8%), followed by racism (31.8%), and agism (18.7%). Experiences of discrimination were associated positively with all PTS symptom domains (βs = .25 .34, ps < .001); these associations were consistent across gender, ethnicity, age, different forms of discrimination, and across youth who experienced a single type or multiple types of discrimination. These findings have important implications for trauma informed risk screening and interventions among youth of color.

Black Americans experience police violence at disproportionate rates in the United States. In addition, media of police violence largely focuses on cases including Black males, leaving Black Americans persistently exposed to videos of members of their own racial group fatally injured. The current study sought to understand the phenomenological experience of viewing police violence toward Black Americans as a Black American. Using a hermeneutical phenomenological design, 12 Black adults were interviewed regarding their experience watching this media. Participant responses heralded two defining attributes to the phenomenon: a negative psychological response and a subsequent coping response to manage mood. Emerging themes for a negative psychological response included: depression, traumatization, hopelessness/helplessness, anxiety, and procreation and family. Emerging themes for coping responses included: racial/ethnic pride, community, activism, active coping, and interpersonal safety. Responses suggest a significant psychological burden is enacted on Black viewers of media of police violence toward other Black Americans that may not be dissimilar to the traumatic impact associated with direct exposure.

Due to its damaging consequences for Black Americans, racial discrimination (RD) has been conceptualized as the precipitant to a unique form of traumatic stress: race-based traumatic stress (RBTS). RBTS identifies seven symptom clusters: anger, avoidance, depression, intrusion, hypervigilance, physical symptoms, and self-esteem. Researchers leverage network analysis, a powerful computational tool, to examine how unique interactions between traumatic stress symptoms give rise to and maintain conditions (e.g., PTSD). No known studies have attempted to explicate the influence of specific RBTS symptoms maintenance of RBTS. Applying network analysis, the present study examines associations between RBTS symptoms and identifies symptoms that most centrally influence maintenance of RBTS. Black Americans (N=1,037; M=45 years) completed the RBTS Symptom Scale based on their worst negative racial encounter. Networks were estimated using regularized partial correlations in R. Strong associations emerged between feeling life was meaningless and feeling useless/like a failure; and getting easily upset and inability to get the event out of their mind. Symptoms with greatest expected influence were feeling life was meaningless, becoming easily pissed-off, and experiencing trembling when reminded of the event. These results offer meaningful implications for treatment of RBTS in Black Americans and highlight between RBTS symptoms.

The perinatal period is a time of significant change for new parents, providing many joys but also a number of challenges. For Black American parents, there is increased risk of experiencing mental health difficulties such as elevated depressive symptoms compared to their White counterparts, calling for a better understanding of their unique risk and resilience factors during this period. This study aimed to center these experiences of Black parents to inform research and intervention. We conducted a systematic review and synthesis of research on the psychosocial risk and resilience factors associated with peripartum depressive symptoms among Black parents. A literature search was conducted, and fifty three journal articles were included in this review. Several individual, interpersonal, community, and societal-level factors emerged. Individual factors included cognitive coping style, religiosity and spirituality, and psychiatric comorbidities. Interpersonal factors included romantic partner support, family conflict, and interpersonal discrimination. Community-level factors included collective efficacy and neighborhood disorder. Societal-level factors included structural racism and environmental disadvantage. Findings highlight multisystemic factors contributing to Black parents’ peripartum depressive symptoms and underscore the need for comprehensive, multilevel intervention efforts to mitigate the effects of risk and promote resilience within this population.