Racism Trauma Health Theory: Moving Beyond a Single Factor to Explain How Racism Harms Health

Research on racism as a fundamental cause of adverse health requires further theoretical guidance. The current article proposes a novel approach to address racial ethnic health disparities that incorporates theories of racism. Racism trauma health theory (RTHT) centers racism as a primary factor in health disparities among African Americans. It analyzes racism as a dynamic and multi-stage process and accounts for levels and domains of racism, types of exposure, specific racist treatment, and stress responses. RTHT addresses limitations of current explanations of racism predicting adverse health by exploring impact beyond economics, to include social, physical, legal, and emotional pathways. The multiplicative effect, at the core of RTHT, assesses compounded experiences of racism that intersect across levels and domains affecting health.

Plain Language Summary

Racism Trauma Health Theory: Moving Beyond a Single Factor to Explain How Racism Harms Health

Research on racism as a fundamental cause of adverse health requires further theoretical guidance. The current article proposes a novel approach to address racial ethnic health disparities that incorporates theories of racism. Racism trauma health theory (RTHT) centers racism as a primary factor in health disparities among African Americans. It analyzes racism as a dynamic and multi-stage process and accounts for levels and domains of racism, types of exposure, specific racist treatment, and stress responses. RTHT addresses limitations of current explanations of racism predicting adverse health by exploring impact beyond economics, to include social, physical, legal, and emotional pathways. The multiplicative effect, at the core of RTHT, assesses compounded experiences of racism that intersect across levels and domains affecting health.