Race-based trauma (also called racial trauma) includes severe emotional, cognitive, and physical distress (i.e., trauma symptoms) that are caused by experiences of social discrimination and maltreatment based on one’s race. An example of a recent, relevant study was conducted by Joyce Yang (University of San Francisco) and her colleagues. They studied race-based trauma among Asian Americans during COVID 1 —a timely investigation, given the dramatic spike in reports of violence and threats toward Asian Americans at that time,2 consequent to then-president Trump’s use of inflammatory and prejudicial terms (“kung flu,” etc.) to refer to the corona virus.
Two-hundred fifteen Asian American adults from 15 ethnic groups provided qualitative data, specifically written descriptions of their experiences, and also completed quantitative self-report measures; thus, this was a mixed-methods study. Participants who had experienced racial discrimination (including hostile stares, verbal insults, physical assaults, and vandalism) described consequent feelings of fear, anger, sadness, shock, and emotional numbness; reduced self-worth and mistrust; and both avoidant behaviors (e.g., social isolation) and adaptive behaviors (seeking social support, identity exploration, assertiveness, social activism). And compared to the subgroup who had not experienced discrimination, they had higher levels of received microaggressions (words or actions that reflect prejudice, such as statements that all members of a racial/ethnic group look the same, or implications of not being American enough), PTSD symptoms, and racial-trauma symptoms.
Trauma symptoms, such as those documented in this study, are the outcomes of experiences that violate our fundamental assumptions about human relationships—in this case, when people are treated as blameworthy or reprehensible because of an aspect of their identity, and furthermore because of events over which they have no control. This study’s findings can be translated into therapy approaches that help people to manage seemingly uncontrollable levels of distress and hypervigilance, choosing a thematic vocabulary that helps to narrate traumatic experiences and thereby slowly put them in the past, and facilitate safe social interaction and engagement.
References
1Yang, J. P., Do, Q. A., Nhan, E. R., & Chen, J. A. (2024). A mixed-methods study of race-based stress and trauma affecting
Asian Americans during COVID. Clinical Psychological Science, 12(3), 468–485. https://doi-org.avoserv2.library.fordham.edu/10.1177/21677026231180810
2Pew Research Center, November 2023, “Discrimination Experiences Shape Most Asian Americans’ Lives”
© Mary E. Procidano 2024. Do not reproduce, repost, or distribute without permission.