Racial microaggressions and trauma symptoms in a black American sample: The moderating role of self-compassion

Abstract

The literature overwhelmingly demonstrates that Black Americans experience racism frequently and across contexts. Moreover, these frequent and pervasive experiences have deleterious mental health consequences, including trauma symptoms. The current study explores self-compassion as a moderator in the relation between racial microaggressions and trauma symptoms in a Black sample. Participants were 202 individuals who self-identified as Black (including those who identified as multiracial, inclusive of Black racial identification). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 63. A cross-sectional survey was used to examine the moderating role of self-compassion in the relation between racial microaggressions (RMAS) and trauma symptoms (PCL-5). In the current sample, the average PCL-5 score was at or above the level of clinical significance. With the exception of the RMAS environmental frequency and distress subscales, RMAS frequency and distress subscales were significantly positively correlated with PCL-5 scores in this sample. Self-compassion was significantly negatively correlated with PCL-5 scores in this sample. Self-compassion was also found to significantly moderate the relations between the RMAS invisibility frequency and distress subscales and PCL-5 scores. Findings suggest that self-compassion may buffer the relation between reported racial microaggressions and trauma symptoms.