Factors Related to Racial Trauma Distress Among BIPOC College Students

Racial trauma distress is when post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms occur due to repeated and cumulative experiences of racism and can negatively impacted Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Consensus in research findings strongly suggest that BIPOC students are more likely to experience racism on university campuses than non-BIPOC students. To mitigate some of these negative outcomes, existing research has shown that psychological safety, resilience, and intraminority solidarity are protective factors for BIPOC students experiencing race-related distress. However, little is known about the frequency of racial trauma distress among BIPOC college students and how these variables may protect against racial trauma distress. Therefore, we examined whether psychological safety, resilience, and intraminority solidarity significantly predicted more or less racial trauma distress among BIPOC college students. Data were collected from 254 BIPOC college students (Mage = 19.45, SD = 3.00) who completed an online survey. A multiple regression model was used to examine whether the predictors significantly predicted racial trauma distress. Results suggest that psychological safety and resilience were significant negative predictors of racial trauma distress. However, intraminority solidarity was a significant positive predictor of racial trauma distress. This research contributes valuable insights into the interaction between psychological safety, resilience, intraminority solidarity, and racial trauma distress and the roles these variables play as potential mitigators against the race-based stress of racial trauma. Understanding the link between these factors and racial trauma distress is crucial for developing effective interventions to address the negative effects of racial trauma distress among BIPOC college students.