About this paper symposium

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Panel information
Panel 7. Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Paper #1
Racial Discrimination, Perseverative Coping, and Internalizing Symptoms among Black Youth-Caregiver Dyads: A Latent Profile Analysis
Author information	Role
Donte Bernard, Ph.D., USA, United States	Presenting author
Abstract
Racial discrimination represents a psychologically burdensome source of stress that can have profound intergenerational consequences within Black families (Galán et al., 2022; Mekawi et al., 2023). Recent research highlights that racial discrimination may increase perseverative types of coping (e.g., worry, rumination, vigilance) as individuals attempt to process and make sense of these adverse experiences (Anderson et al., 2021; Bernard et al., 2023). Despite this research, it remains unknown whether parental perseverative coping strategies modulate the degree to which racial discrimination experienced by parents influences youth mental health. In accordance with the multifactor model of perseverative thought (Hallion et al., 2022) the current study takes a person-centered approach to understand how perseverative parent coping strategies moderate the association between parental racial discrimination and youth internalizing symptoms among a sample of 219 Black youth and caregiver dyads. Data from the present study were drawn from a larger self-report survey study examining the psychosocial implications of racial discrimination among Black youth and parents across the United States. The average age of caregivers was 42.76 years old (SD = 9.02), and more mothers enrolled in the study (83%), relative to fathers. There was an even split of male and female youth and the average age of youth participants was 14.5 years (SD = 2.03). For the current study, we utilized parent report measures assessing racial discrimination and various types of perseverative coping (i.e., racism-related worry, racism-related rumination, and racism-related vigilance), as well as youth report measures assessing anxiety and depression. Using latent profile analyses, three patterns of parental perseverative coping were characterized (see Figure 1). Multinomial logistic regression suggested that parents who reported higher endorsements of racial discrimination were at greater odds of being in the High perseverator group which was characterized by standardized scores on measures of rumination, worry, and vigilance that were near or above 1 standard deviation above the mean. (OR = 1.20, p <.001, 95% CI[1.13-1.27]). Analyses of variance suggested that parent racial discrimination and profile membership were uniquely and interactively associated with youth mental health. At the main effect level, racial discrimination was associated with anxiety (β = .28, p < .001), but not depression (β = .21, p = .154). Further, parent membership in the High perseverator group was associated with youth anxiety (β = .29, p < .001) and depressive symptoms (β = .24, p = .002). Profile membership was also found to moderate the relationship among racial discrimination and youth mental health (β = .27, p = .010). Simple slope analyses of this two-way interaction indicated at high levels of racial discrimination, High perseverator profile membership was associated with elevations in anxiety symptoms (b = .39; p < .001), relative to the Average and Low perseveration profiles which did not influence this association. Collective results from the current study suggest that the intergenerational transmission of racial discrimination may be strongly influenced by parental coping strategies.

Paper #2
Identifying Typologies of Racial Discrimination, Other Trauma Exposures, and Internalizing Symptoms among Ethnoracially Minoritized Youth
Author information	Role
Adrelys Mateo Santana, University of Southern California, United States	Presenting author
Lillian Polanco-Roman, The New School, USA	Non-presenting author
Henry A. Willis, University of Maryland, College Park, USA	Non-presenting author
Lorraine Y. Howard, Rutgers University, USA	Non-presenting author
Chantel T. Ebrahimi, The New School, USA	Non-presenting author
Chardée A. Galán, The Pennsylvania State University, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Objective. Despite increasing calls to expand our definition of trauma to incorporate experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination (Carter, 2007; Comas-Díaz et al., 2019), there is a shortage of studies examining how more conventional forms of trauma (e.g., abuse, violence exposure) may cluster with the potentially traumatic experience (PTE) of racial/ethnic discrimination in groups of ethnoracially minoritized individuals. This study employed latent class analyses to identify distinct classes of discrimination and other PTEs in ethnoracially minoritized adolescents and examined whether these classes differ across psychological symptoms. Method. A U.S. sample of 651 ethnoracially minoritized adolescents (Mage = 14.54, SDage = 1.63) completed online surveys assessing racial/ethnic discrimination, PTEs, and psychological symptoms via CloudResearch. Latent class analyses were estimated using Mplus 8.10, with classes ranging from a 1–4-class solution. A one-way ANOVA was then conducted to assess if classes differed by symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and racism-based traumatic stress symptoms (RBTSS). Results. A 3-Class solution provided the best fit to the data (Entropy = 0.81; BLRT p < 0.001). Class 1 (23%) comprised high levels of discrimination and other PTEs. Class 2 (49.6%) comprised elevated levels of peer discrimination and vicarious violence exposure, but not other types of PTEs. Class 3 (27.3%) had low levels of discrimination and other PTEs. A Tukey post-hoc test revealed that Class 1 demonstrated statistically significant higher levels of depression (Mdifference = 12.28, p < 0.001), anxiety (Mdifference = 3.82, p < 0.001), PTSD (Mdifference = 17.52, p < 0.001), and RBTSS (Mdifference = 0.49, p < 0.001) than Class 2 and higher levels of depression (Mdifference = 24.53, p < 0.001), anxiety (Mdifference = 7.18, p < 0.001), PTSD (Mdifference = 29.99, p < 0.001), and RBTSS (Mdifference = 1.26, p < 0.001) than Class 3. Similarly, Class 2 demonstrated higher levels of depression (Mdifference = 12.24, p < 0.001), anxiety (Mdifference = 3.36, p < 0.001), PTSD (Mdifference = 12.47, p < 0.001), and RBTSS (Mdifference = 0.78, p < 0.001) than Class 3. Discussion. The extant latent class analyses provided evidence of important heterogeneity in racial/ethnic discrimination and other PTEs. Findings suggest that racial/ethnic discrimination clusters with other PTEs and that the combined impact of racial/ethnic discrimination and other PTEs is linked to worse psychological outcomes among ethnoracially minoritized adolescents. Therefore, more work is warranted to understand the compounded impact of trauma and other racism-based PTEs, which may help inform more culturally responsive mental health interventions for ethnoracially minoritized youths.

Paper #3
Racism-Based Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors among Black and Latine Adolescents
Author information	Role
Lillian Polanco-Roman, USA, United States	Presenting author
Chardée A. Galán, The Pennsylvania State University, USA	Non-presenting author
Henry A. Willis, University of Maryland, College Park, USA	Non-presenting author
Lorraine Y. Howard, Rutgers University, USA	Non-presenting author
Adrelys Mateo Santana, University of Southern California, USA	Non-presenting author
Emily N. Satinsky, University of Southern California, USA	Non-presenting author
Elayne Zhou, University of Southern California, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Objective: Black and Latine adolescents are at elevated risk for suicidal behaviors, and rates have disproportionately increased over the past decade in this group. Growing evidence suggests that racial and ethnic discrimination may increase risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, though no research to date has examined racism-based traumatic stress symptoms (RBTSS) as a potential explanatory factor. The present study examines the role of RBTSS, a psychological response to racial/ethnic discrimination, on risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among U.S. Black and Latine adolescents. Method: A national sample (N=518) of non-Latine Black/African American (60.4%) and Latine (39.6%) adolescents ages 12-17 years old (M = 14.58; SD = 1.63) were recruited from an online survey panel (i.e., CloudResearch). Participants completed a battery of surveys including a newly developed and validated questionnaire assessing RBTSS. A series of logistic regression analyses were used to test the association between RBTSS and past year rates of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts, accounting for age, sex, other trauma exposures, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Results: Overall, in the past year, 12% of youth endorsed suicidal ideation, 9% planned suicide, and 8% attempted suicide. In unadjusted models, RBTSS statistically predicted past year suicide ideation, plans, and attempts. In adjusted models, higher levels of RBTSS increased odds of past year suicide attempt, aO.R. = 1.58, 95% C.I. = 1.07-2.35, p = 0.02. This association was not detected with past year suicide ideation, aO.R. = 0.75 , 95% C.I. = 0.53-1.06, p = 0.10, or plans, aO.R. = 0.89, 95% C.I. = 0.61-1.32, p = 0.57. Discussion: RBTSS may play a critical role in the development of risk for suicidal behaviors among U.S. Black and Latine adolescents above and beyond other trauma exposures and PTSD symptoms. Specifically, RBTSS may confer risk for suicide attempts, though not planning or ideation. RBTSS may differentially impact suicide risk across the spectrum. A better understanding of the psychological impact of racism-related experiences is necessary to improve the cultural responsiveness of youth suicide prevention strategies.

Paper #4
Racism-Based Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Depressive Symptoms: Do Racial-Ethnic Identity Beliefs Buffer This Relationship?
Author information	Role
Henry A. Willis, USA, University of Maryland, College Park	Presenting author
Chardée A. Galán, The Pennsylvania State University, USA	Non-presenting author
Lillian Polanco-Roman, The New School, USA	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Several conceptual frameworks (i.e., Salem et al., 2020) have posited the myriad of ways that racial trauma and subsequent race-based traumatic stress symptoms (RBTSS) may impact racial-ethnic minoritized (REM) youth, yet empirical research validating these links remain scarce. One potential reason for this lack of empirical work is that until recently, there have been few, if any, RBTSS scales for REM youth (Galan et al., in press). Despite limited empirical research on the impacts of RBTSS on REM youth, racial trauma experiences are widely acknowledged as stressful occurrences that affect the adaptive development of REM individuals (i.e., Carter, 2007). Given that other studies have found that higher levels of traumatic symptoms may increase suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms among REM youth (Maxie-Moreman et al., 2024), coupled with the rising rates of suicide among some REM youth (Ring the Alarm: The Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America, 2019), more work is needed to explore the unique contribution of youth RBTSS on depressive symptoms among this population. Furthermore, research has highlighted the protective effect of racial-ethnic identity (REI) beliefs (Smith & Silva, 2011), yet few studies have explored how these beliefs may protect against RBTSS and be associated with fewer depressive symptoms. As a result, the current study explored if RBTSS among REM youth using a novel scale for assessing this construct would be associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. The study also sought to explore if REI beliefs, specifically REI exploration and commitment and affirmation beliefs would moderate the association between RBTSS and depressive symptoms. Participants were 651 adolescents ages 12-17 years old (Mage= 14.54, SDage = 1.63). Adolescents identified as Black, Latinx, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Native American/Alaska Native, and multiracial. Participants completed measures of RBTSS, REI exploration, commitment, and affirmation beliefs, and depressive symptoms. Regression analyses revealed that after accounting for covariates, there was a direct effect of RBTSS (b = 2.91, p < .001) and REI commitment and affirmation beliefs (b = -2.28, p < .001) on depressive symptoms, but there was no significant direct effect of REI exploration beliefs (b = 0.83, p = .12). In exploring the potential buffering effects of REI beliefs, there was a significant three-way interaction between RBTSS, REI exploration, and REI commitment and affirmation beliefs (b = -0.79, p < .05). Of note, the negative effect of RBTSS on depressive symptoms was strongest for those with low (-1 SD; b = -0.58) and average (M) levels of REI commitment and affirmation beliefs at all levels of REI exploration beliefs (-1 SD; b = -0.64, average, and +1 SD; b = 0.64). In contrast, those with high levels of REI commitment and affirmation beliefs (+1 SD; b = 0.58) reported the lowest levels of depressive symptoms as a result of RBTSS at all levels of REI exploration beliefs. The results highlight that RBTSS is significantly associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, and that higher levels of REI beliefs may buffer some, but not all, of the negative effects of RBTSS.

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