Differences in Emotional Responses to Race-Based Trauma among Black and White Americans

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scholars have identified race-based stress as a unique form of stress and have examined associated mental and physical health outcomes, yet less is known about the emotional responses and accompanying symptoms associated with negative race-based events and how these experiences differ by racial group membership, stress level, and/or race-based event type. This paper explores and compares the differences in emotional and race-based stress symptom reactions to negative racial encounters among 175 Black and White participants. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed different patterns of emotional and race-based stress symptom reactions to racial encounters among Black and White participants. At high levels of stress, Black and White participants experienced markedly different patterns of race-based stress symptoms: White participants primarily exhibited symptoms of intrusion, while Black participants experienced a variety of symptoms including depression, intrusion, anger, hypervigilance, and physical symptoms. Practice and research implications are addressed.