"White People Stress Me Out All the Time": Black Students Define Racial Trauma

Objective: Using a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm and a Black feminist qualitative framework, this study investigated how Black students at a predominantly White university in the southeast defined racial trauma. Method: A purposive sample of 26 participants (10 men and 16 women, aged 18-27) participated in a semistructured interview about their definitions of race-based stress and racial trauma. Data analysis consisted of a six-phase inductive, latent thematic analysis. Researcher reflexivity, interviews, observations, and research memos contributed to trustworthiness. Results: Participants' understandings of race-based stress and racial trauma-informed two composite definitions of racial trauma. Participants conceptualized racial trauma and race-based stress as related and identified three salient components of racial trauma: (a) "Sticking with": temporal component, (b) "Suffering severely": intensity component, and (c) "Repeating regularly": frequency component. Conclusions: The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature by providing an academic and community definition of racial trauma grounded in the voices of Black collegians. These definitions of racial trauma may be used to inform future research, clinical services, and outreach. Public Significance Statement It is important to know how Black collegians define racial trauma because many are affected by various forms of racism, and some are actively involved in racial justice movements. In this study, Black students defined racial trauma as stress that sticks with them, severely affecting how they think and feel, based on the number of times they experience or the intensity of racist stressors. Because definitions have the power to shape reality, this definition can empower Black students to continue identifying, healing from, and dismantling racism's negative impact and prepare mental health professionals to engage in outreach and therapy related to racial trauma.