Journal of Black Psychology

Research indicates that Black Americans are at higher risk for trauma symptoms due to exposure to racial discrimination. However, the degree to which Black Americans appraise discriminatory events as threatening and how their coping with discrimination affects traumatization remains unclear. In the current study, an online sample of Black American adults (N = 414), threat appraisal was tested as a mechanism through which direct and vicarious discrimination predicts trauma symptoms. Coping strategies were explored as potentially influencing the impact of discrimination on trauma. Perceived racial discrimination had a large effect (r = .67) on trauma symptoms and both direct and vicarious racism were positively related to trauma symptoms through threat appraisal. Avoidant coping (i.e., disengagement or withdrawal from reminders of stressors) strengthened the effect of direct discrimination on trauma symptoms in middle-aged and older Black Americans but not younger adults. Additionally, neither problem-focused nor social support coping influenced the discrimination–trauma relationship. The implications of the findings, possible future directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.

This study investigated the relationship between the impostor phenomenon (IP) and mental health among Black students in different institutional contexts—specifically, whether they attend a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or a Predominantly White College or University (PWCU). The study investigated whether Black students’ experiences of impostorism were moderated by racial identity and cultural congruity. Data were collected through a web-based survey of 325 Black undergraduate and graduate students. There were no significant differences in IP between HBCU and PWCU students. While racial centrality did not emerge as a significant moderator, cultural congruity significantly moderated the association between impostor feelings and mental health. The results suggest that impostor feelings are more damaging to Black students’ mental health when they experience higher cultural congruity, while having little effect when they experience lower cultural congruity. These findings underscore the importance of considering contextual and institutional factors when addressing the impostor phenomenon in research and practice aimed at supporting the well-being of Black students.

The current political climate and the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted Black college students’ mental health. Despite access to mental health services through their institutions, Black college students underutilize services. We sought to identify their mental health help-seeking behaviors, barriers and supports for help-seeking, service utilization provider preferences, and ideas for promoting mental health help-seeking. Twenty-one Black college students (range 18–21 years old, M _age = 18.76 years) participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Notably, (61.9%) participants described positive personal experiences (e.g., theirs or their family’s) and attitudes toward mental health help-seeking. Stigma emerged as the primary barrier preventing students from seeking help, while social influence (e.g., family and peer) was the most prominent facilitator. Students preferred seeking help from people they are most comfortable with and who are the most trustworthy. Finally, 42.9% of students recommended targeted outreach to Black college students to increase mental health help-seeking behavior and decrease stigma. Results expand the existing literature while providing unique insights from Black college students about how to promote mental health help-seeking by leveraging cultural assets.

While much literature examines racial socialization in Black families, specifically “the Talk,” few studies focus on this process during emerging adulthood. Guided by relational communication and racism-related stress theories, this qualitative study examined Black emerging adults’ experiences of “the Talk,” a specific form of racial socialization that prepares Black individuals for encounters with racism and policing, and its impact on their personal lives and family dynamics. Thirty Black college students at Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) participated in interviews and focus groups. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes related to “the Talk”: (a) guide for survival, (b) intergenerational communication process, (c) village phenomenon, and (d) source of Black familial stress. Findings highlight “the Talk” as an essential yet complex practice that poses emotional and relational challenges for Black emerging adults and their family systems. Implications underscore the need for culturally-specific interventions to support Black families and reforms to address systemic police violence.