About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 7. Health and Wellbeing

Abstract

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Background: Black and/or Latina/é/o youth experience significantly higher rates of traumatic childhood experiences, with a particular research emphasis on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; Maguire-Jack et al., 2020). However, past literature has primarily focused on neurotypical adolescents who’ve primarily experienced community violence and fail to examine the combined effect of multiple stressors. The experiencing of ACEs and stressors continued through covid-19 (C-19) pandemic as Black and/or Latiné communities experienced more pandemic related stressors compared to White communities (Goldman et al., 2021) with youth with ADHD being more at risk to experience difficulties (Becker et al., 2020). As pandemic research begins to be published there is scarce research on the Black and/or Latiné neurodivergent adolescent experience of the pandemic (i.e. social distancing, having COVID, losing a loved one), the social implications during the pandemic (racism, discrimination) and their effects on trauma related experiences that were already present. Given that there is a lack of efficacious culturally relevant trauma informed interventions for Black and/or Latiné youth, it is critical to build interventions meeting youth where they are currently. First, thought, it is imperative to understand how youth who experience childhood traumas and ADHD cope and how these strategies were affected by the pandemic.

Methods: Participants are Black and/or Latina/é/o adolescents with ADHD in aged 11-17 who completed self-report measures of ACEs, activism, coping, daily discriminatory experiences, traumatic community experiences, pandemic distress, and religious/spiritual beliefs. Developmental trauma and PTSD symptoms were collected through a semi-structured interview. The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia was conducted to determine participants’ experiences with PTSD and to receive a diagnosis of ADHD. Path analysis was performed to examine associations between variables and hypothesized moderators of pandemic experiences and discrimination.

Results: PTSD was associated with activism (β=.25) and was moderated by discrimination (β=.61.) PTSD was also negatively associated with spiritual beliefs (β=-.29) and was moderated by discrimination (β=.51) and C19 stressors (β=-.31). ACEs was associated with coping (-.32) and was moderated by c19 stressors (β=-.57). ACEs was also associated with spiritual beliefs (β=-.40) and was moderated by c19 stressors (β=-.60). Traumatic community experiences was only associated with coping (β=.80) and was moderated by C19 stressors (β=.54). Developmental trauma was associated with coping (β=.31) and moderated by C19 stressors (β=.54). Developmental trauma was also associated with beliefs (β=.25) and moderated by C19 stress.

Discussion: Pandemic stressors proved to be a common moderator across multiple associations. Youth who experienced more adverse childhood experiences held fewer spiritual/religious beliefs and utilized fewer coping strategies. Black and/or Latiné youth already experience high levels of oppression related stressors, and pandemic distress exacerbated the associations between trauma and difficulty engaging in coping strategies (e.g., coping, spirituality). This points towards the need of mixed methods research examining the potential desensitization of Black and/or Latiné youth who experience high levels of trauma beyond the scope of community violence exposure, particularly in neurodivergent youth. The traditional framework of coping theory is not rooted in chronic, generational, and systemic traumas that affect the ability to cope, thus desensitization may be necessary for survival in adverse environments. Additionally, this suggests the need for systemic and community facing programs that alleviate these stressors Black and/or Latiné youth experience and providing culturally responsive therapy that acknowledges systemic oppression and uses liberation psychology and radical hope methodology to support and engage young people.

Author information

Author	Role
Marcus Flax, Loyola University Chicago	Presenting author
Victoria Grant, Loyola University Chicago, United States	Non-presenting author
Terumi Randle, Loyola University Chicago, United States	Non-presenting author
Zoe R. Smith, Ph.D, Loyola University Chicago , United States	Non-presenting author

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