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Symposia

Racial Trauma

Racial Trauma and Mental Health Among Black Americans: Exploring Moderators and Treatment Implications

2 - (SYM 48) The Moderating Role of Alexithymia in the Relationship Between Racial Trauma and Negative Emotionality Among Black Adults

Saturday, November 22, 2025
3:52 PM - 4:11 PM CST
Location: Bolden 2, Level 2
Keywords: Racial Trauma, African Americans / Black Americans, Culture
Recommended Readings: Pieterse, A. L., Todd, N. R., Neville, H. A., & Carter, R. T. (2012). Perceived racism and mental health among Black American adults: a meta-analytic review. Journal of counseling psychology, 59(1), 1.,   Carter, R. T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13-105.,   Jernigan, M. M., & Daniel, J. H. (2011). Racial trauma in the lives of Black children and adolescents: Challenges and clinical implications. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 4(2), 123-141.,   Williams, M., Osman, M., & Hyon, C. (2023). Understanding the psychological impact of oppression using the trauma symptoms of discrimination scale. Chronic Stress, 7, 24705470221149511.,  
Abstract Body
Racial trauma or racism-related trauma is psychological trauma due to cumulative experiences of racial discrimination or racism (Williams et al., 2022; Carter, 2007). Studies suggest that racial trauma has an immense effect in the Black community, as between 90% and 98% of Black adults in the United States have experienced racial trauma within their lifetime (Fani et al., 2021). This debilitating trauma is associated with negative emotionality (i.e., depression and anxiety) in Black adults (Williams et al., 2021).  Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the psychological factors that may influence the relationship between racial trauma and negative emotionality, which is necessary for treatment. To inform trauma-related intervention, insight into mechanisms associated with racial trauma, depression, and anxiety are paramount. One potential mechanism is alexithymia, impaired capacity to identify and describe emotions, which may influence adverse consequences of racial trauma (Park et al., 2015).  Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine alexithymia's influence on the association between racial trauma and negative emotionality among Black adults. Participants for the current study included 133 Black adults (M = 35.02 years; SD = 14.43 years) who completed the clinician-administered UConn Racial/Ethnic Stress and Trauma Interview (UnRESTS) and other mental health outcome measures. Racial trauma was associated with both anxiety (p = .038) and depression (p = .043). Additionally, moderation analyses revealed that racial trauma was associated with anxiety at high (t = 4.138, p = .0001) but not low (t = 1.201, p = .231) levels of alexithymia and also with depression at high (t = 3.578, p = .0005) but not low (t = .796, p = .427) levels of alexithymia. In all, heightened difficulty identifying and describing emotions exacerbated the relationship between racial trauma and negative emotionality. These findings provide preliminary insight into the importance of emotional expression in the context of racism-related traumatic events, as the results indicate that emotional expression may help ameliorate potential adverse psychological consequences related to racial trauma. In line with previous literature, discussing emotions related to racism-related trauma may facilitate emotional recovery during the therapeutic process (Bryant-Davis & Ocampo, 2006).  Clinicians are advised to engage in treatment planning that considers potential trauma responses to racism together with clients’ emotional awareness to maximize client recovery.