Racial discrimination, racial trauma, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder: the role of emotion dysregulation as a mediating factor in Black, African, and Afrodiasporic people in Germany

Background: Little is known about how racial discrimination affects the mental health of Black, African, and Afrodiasporic people in Germany. Empirical evidence has begun to point to racial trauma and (complex-)post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a possible consequence of experiencing racial discrimination, but knowledge on how individual psychological processes may influence the development of racial trauma and PTSD is scarce.Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the influence of racial discrimination on racial trauma and symptoms of PTSD and complex PTSD in Black, African, and Afrodiasporic people in Germany. Moreover, we aimed to examine the role of emotion dysregulation as a mediating factor.Method: Black, African, and Afrodiasporic people in Germany with and without migration experience (N = 103) completed a questionnaire including measures for perceived discrimination (EDS), Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination (TSDS), symptoms of (complex-)PTSD (ITQ), and emotion dysregulation (DERS-16).Results: Results revealed that heightened racial discrimination was associated with more emotion dysregulation, as well as higher levels of racial trauma symptoms, PTSD, and complex PTSD. Emotion dysregulation significantly mediated the relationship between discrimination and racial trauma, PTSD, and complex PTSD. However, when controlled for migration experience, an exploratory post-hoc analysis showed that this association only occurred in German-born individuals, but not in participants with migration experience.Conclusions: These results suggest that the association between racial discrimination and trauma symptoms could be partially accounted for by emotion dysregulation. However, exploratory findings indicate that this association may not be significant in individuals with migration experience.