Measurement invariance of the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale for racism among a national sample of college students.

OBJECTIVE: = 20.57) who participated in the 2023-2024 Healthy Minds Study. METHOD: Confirmatory factor analysis and multigroup measurement invariance testing are used to evaluate the factor structure, measurement invariance, and latent mean differences of the TSDS across key demographic characteristics: race/ethnicity, gender identity, international student status, and year in school. RESULTS: The TSDS met full scalar invariance across all demographic categories tested. Latent mean comparisons revealed significant differences across groups. Notably, gender-diverse students reported significantly higher racial trauma symptoms compared to men and women, women had higher symptoms than men, and Black and Middle Eastern students reported the highest levels of racial trauma symptoms. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that the TSDS can be confidently used as a unidimensional measure in diverse populations and that differences in racial trauma symptoms across groups likely reflect true, meaningful disparities in experiences and mental health consequences of racism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).