Weathering the storm: Coping self-efficacy, racial trauma, and dysphoria among Black women facing racial stress.

内容摘要

In the United States, Black women face racial stressors that significantly undermine their well-being and contribute to poor mental health outcomes. The current study examines how racial stressors (i.e., racial violence exposure through social media, vicarious racism, and interpersonal racism) are associated with racial trauma and dysphoria (i.e., depression, anxiety, and hostility) and the moderating role of emotion-focused coping self-efficacy (e.g., suppression of unpleasant thoughts and emotions) among Black women (Mage = 35, N = 283). The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional, analytical design. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to Black women aged 18 and over in the Northeast US between March and July 2024. Participants from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds were recruited. Data were collected via Qualtrics and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 29.0. A hierarchical regression analysis assessed the association between racial stressors (social media violence, interpersonal racism, and vicarious racism), racial trauma, and dysphoria, with emotion-focused coping self-efficacy as a moderator. Greater exposure to racial stressors and the suppression of unpleasant thoughts and emotions were associated with higher dysphoria. Interpersonal racism was positively linked to racial trauma, while social media exposure to racial violence was associated with lower trauma. Interaction effects showed that Black women who reported high social media violence exposure and suppressed unpleasant thoughts experienced less trauma. Similarly, those who reported higher vicarious racism and felt confident in suppressing unpleasant thoughts also experienced less trauma. Conversely, those who felt less efficacious in suppressing unpleasant thoughts were more likely to endorse racial trauma symptoms. Black women's racial stressors, dysphoria, and racial trauma are linked. However, the psychological effects of racial violence exposure through social media depend on available coping resources. Suppressing unpleasant thoughts and emotions is a conditional coping strategy that may mitigate racial trauma when accompanied by high coping self-efficacy, especially in situations involving vicarious racism and social media-based racial violence exposure. Conversely, low confidence in suppressing distress is associated with heightened racial trauma, highlighting the importance of emotion-focused coping self-efficacy in shaping psychological vulnerability. How racism affects Black women’s healthWhy was the study done?Black women in the United States are regularly exposed to different forms of racism, including direct experiences, witnessing racism toward others, and exposure to racial violence on social media. These experiences can harm mental health, leading to emotional distress and symptoms of racial trauma.What did the researchers do? The research team studied how these types of racial stress are related to mental health among 283 Black women in the Northeast United States using survey data. We also looked at whether feeling confident in managing difficult thoughts and emotions shapes these relationships.What did the researchers find? We found that greater exposure to racism was linked to more emotional distress. Interpersonal racism was also associated with higher racial trauma. However, the impact of social media exposure to racial violence varied. Women who felt more confident in managing distress reported lower racial trauma in some contexts, while those with less confidence experienced higher racial trauma.What do the findings means? These findings highlight that racism remains a key driver of mental health inequities. While some Black women who feel confident in managing difficult emotions may experience less racial trauma in certain situations, suppressing distress is not a universally protective strategy. In some cases, it may reduce immediate emotional impact but does not address the underlying harm of repeated racial stressors. Overall, the results suggest that strengthening coping resources may help reduce harm, but meaningful improvements in mental health will require structural changes to reduce exposure to racism and its effects.