“Do we not matter?!”: A qualitative exploration of vicarious racism stress in married Black Americans

Abstract Objective This study employed the marriage advantage framework to understand whether social support from spouses buffered the effects of vicarious racism on the mental health of married Blacks during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Background Scholarship has underscored that interpersonal experiences with racism can lead to a plethora of negative mental health outcomes. However, the relationship between vicarious racism, or secondhand experiences of racism, and its attendant consequences to mental health remains understudied. Specifically, empirical work examining social factors, such as marital status, that may attenuate negative outcomes following exposure is scarce. Method Qualitative interviews of 16 married Black individuals were conducted to understand the impact of spousal support on the effects of vicarious racism. A combination of social media advertising and snowball sampling was used to recruit study participants. Results Findings suggest that vicarious racism is detrimental to the mental health of Black people. However, Black spouses were an important source of social support when managing the emotional toll of vicarious racism. Conclusion Participants' spouses provided a space to express emotional distress and aided in positive coping through emotion regulation and joint activism. Implications Family‐based interventions targeting experiences with vicarious racism are needed to support emotion management among minority couples.