Understanding the link between racial discrimination and traumatic stress symptoms among Black youth: The role of co-rumination and racism-related vigilance.

OBJECTIVE

Racial discrimination represents a pernicious source of trauma for Black youth that can critically hinder mental health. This cross-sectional study examined whether racism-related co-rumination and racism-related vigilance function as distinct and sequential pathways linking racial discrimination to traumatic stress symptoms (TSS) among a sample of Black adolescents.

METHOD: Data were drawn from a national sample of 195 Black adolescents (Mage = 14.52; 49% female) who completed questionnaires assessing racial discrimination, racism-related co-rumination, racism-related vigilance, and TSS.

RESULTS

Path analyses assessed direct and indirect associations between discrimination and TSS via racism-related co-rumination and vigilance. Racial discrimination was positively associated with TSS when indirect effects were not considered. Examinations of indirect effects illustrated that discrimination was not associated with TSS through racism-related co-rumination but was via the vigilance path. Serial mediation analysis showed that racism-related co-rumination and, in turn, racism-related vigilance partially explained the link between racial discrimination and TSS.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the significance of discrimination-related coping responses and underscore the need for culturally informed interventions that augment how Black youth navigate racism-related stressors.