







































5

Graduate Student Journal of Psychology
Spring 2025 - Vol. 24

Copyright 2025 by the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University

Exploring Childhood Trauma, Race-Related 
Stress, Racial Socialization, and Symptoms in 

Black Emerging Adulthood

 Childhood trauma (e.g., physical, sexual, emo-
tional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect) can 
be detrimental, as it can exacerbate adverse well-being 
outcomes (Gallagher et al., 2023). These adverse out-
comes often persist into adulthood (Gause et al., 2022). 
Therefore, adults who experienced childhood trauma 
may continue to experience its psychological effects. 
 Intersectional factors contributing to systemic 
oppression— such as indirect racism (e.g., income in-
equality, mass incarceration) and direct racism (e.g., 
over-policing, community violence, and overt racial 
discrimination)— intensify trauma symptoms among 
Black Americans, who also face greater barriers to 
accessing mental health treatment (Gallagher et al., 
2023). Research supports the notion that racial trauma 
or race-related stress amplifies the relationship between 
interpersonal trauma (e.g., childhood trauma) and the 
behavioral and psychological health outcomes of Black 
Americans (Mekawi et al., 2021; Metzger et al., 2021). 
 Race-related stress pertains to experiencing psy-
chological distress from a racial encounter or experi-
ences of racism (Carter & Pieterse, 2019; Roberson 
& Carter, 2022). Race-related stress is significantly 
associated with internalizing symptoms, such as anx-

iety and depression (Carter et al., 2019). Emerging 
adulthood (ages 18 – 25) is a developmental time peri-
od for youth that bridges adolescence and adulthood. 
Black emerging adults are more susceptible to racial 
discrimination than their counterparts from other ra-
cial/ethnic groups (Arnett, 2000). For example, Black 
emerging adults are more likely to experience racial 
discrimination when engaging in normative devel-
opmental tasks such as seeking jobs, training oppor-
tunities, advanced education, etc. (Hurd et al., 2014; 
Pearlin et al., 2005). The transition to adulthood and 
greater autonomy, coupled with race-related stress, can 
make Black emerging adults feel vulnerable. For those 
with a history of childhood trauma, the additive stress 
of race-related events can further increase vulnerabil-
ity and complicate psychological outcomes. There-
fore, it is critical to examine culturally relevant coping 
strategies that best fit the needs of this population. 
 Research indicates that racial socialization (RS) 
is a cultural coping strategy for Black youth, which 
can produce positive emotional well-being outcomes 
(Anderson et al., 2019). RS messages include themes 
of culture, attitudes, and values to prepare youth to 
navigate racial discrimination, oppression, and stress-

Maegan Barber & GiShawn Mance 
Department of Psychology, Howard University, Washington, DC

Objective: Systemic oppression contributes to disproportionate rates of childhood trauma and race-related stress 
among Black emerging adults, heightening harmful psychological outcomes (Hope et al., 2022; Williams et al., 2010). 
This study explored how race-related stress influences the relationship between childhood trauma and internalizing 
symptoms in Black emerging adults. It also investigated whether racial socialization messages moderated these effects 
in a three-way interaction. Methods: Black emerging adults (ages 18 – 25) were recruited through academic chan-
nels and social media platforms to complete a demographic questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire 
– Short Form (CTQ), the Index of Race-Related Stress – Brief Version (IRRS-B), the Racial Socialization Ques-
tionnaire-teen (RSQ-t), and the Brief Symptom Inventory–18 (BSI-18). Hayes’ PROCESS Model 3 was utilized to 
test moderated moderation analysis.  Results: Analyses comprised 341 Black emerging adults (75.4% women, 31% 
18-year-olds). Race-related stress did not moderate the relationship between childhood trauma and internalizing 
symptoms, B = -0.004, SE = 0.0025, 95% CI [-0.0054, 0.0046]. The overall moderated moderation model was not 
significant, B = 0.00002, SE = 0.0002, 95% CI [-0.0002, 0.0007]. However, higher endorsed childhood trauma and 
racial socialization messages, in the absence of race-related stress, were associated with increased internalized sympto-
mology, B = 0.0105, SE = .0045, 95% CI = [0.0017, 0.0194]. Conclusions: These findings highlight the unique ways 
childhood trauma, race-related stress, and racial socialization messages impact Black emerging adults’ psychological 
functioning. A higher frequency of endorsed racial socialization messages may amplify distress associated with child-
hood trauma. Future research should investigate racial socialization competency and coping self-efficacy to better 
understand racial socialization’s role as a potential protective factor for Black emerging adults facing psychological 
distress from trauma and stress.  
 Keywords: childhood trauma, race-related stress, Black emerging adults, racial socialization, internalizing
symptoms



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TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION

ors related to racial and ethnic identity (Hughes et al., 
2006; Lesane-Brown et al., 2005; Metzger et al., 2021). 
RS messages are often verbal and nonverbal commu-
nication from caregivers to youth (Anderson et al., 
2019; Hughes et al., 2006). An example of a verbal 
RS message would be a caregiver communicating to 
a youth, “You should be proud to be Black” (Neblett 
et al., 2009). An example of an RS nonverbal or be-
havioral message would be a caregiver buying youth 
books focusing on Black culture and history (Neblett 
et al. 2009). Five examples of notable RS messages are 
as follows: (1) instilling cultural pride by emphasizing 
heritage and ancestry (racial pride messages); (2) pre-
paring for racial discrimination (barrier messages); 
(3) promoting racial equality or orienting youth to 
fit into mainstream culture (egalitarian messages); (4) 
reiterating positive traits (self-worth messages); and 
(5) participating in activities or demonstrating behav-
iors that promote Black culture (behavioral messag-
es) (Bowman & Howard, 1985; Hughes et al., 2006; 
Metzger et al., 2021; Neblett et al., 2008; Neblett et 
al., 2009). RS has been associated with decreased de-
pressive and stress-related symptoms (Metzger et al., 
2021; Neblett et al., 2008) while allowing Black youth 
to gain a more robust and healthier sense of racial 
identity (Metzger et al., 2021; Neblett et al., 2008). It 
is also linked to positive psychological and behavioral 
outcomes for Black youth who experience racial stress 
and discrimination (Anderson et al., 2019) while pro-
moting positive racial coping self-efficacy. However, 
while a wealth of research has examined RS as a pro-
tective factor for Black youth who have experienced 
racial stress (e.g., Neblett et al., 2013; Jones and Ne-
blett, 2017; Anderson et al., 2019), there are mixed 
findings when it comes to racial socialization messag-
es. For example, the protective impact of RS messages, 
such as egalitarian messages (Saleem et al., 2022, pp. 
146–147) and racial barriers (Rodriguez et al., 2008), 
may vary as their effectiveness depends on the frequen-
cy, content, and context in which they are delivered. 
However, the literature is clear that negative messag-
es, which communicate      negative stereotypes about 
Black people (e.g., “Told you that learning about Black 
history is not that important.”), are linked to harm-
ful mental health outcomes (Anderson et al., 2024).
 This study will examine whether cumula-
tive RS messages serve as a protective factor for 
Black emerging adults who have experienced racial 

stress and childhood trauma, using the Racial En-
counter Coping Appraisal and Socialization The-
ory (RECAST) model as a guiding framework. 
Guiding Theoretical Frameworks: 
Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and 
Socialization Theory
 Stevenson (2014) adapted the Transactional Mod-
el of Stress and Coping (TMSC) to address race-related 
stressors. Building on the foundational work of Lazarus 
and Folkman (1984), Stevenson extended the TMSC 
by introducing RECAST. This theoretical framework 
offers a nuanced lens for understanding how race-re-
lated stress and RS impact psychological outcomes. 
 TMSC emphasizes the role of primary appraisal in 
stress responses. Folkman et al. (1986) describe prima-
ry appraisal as the initial assessment of whether an in-
dividual perceives an event as threatening or harmful. 
In the context of childhood trauma, traumatic experi-
ences are associated with heightened psychological dis-
tress, which can persist into adulthood (Gause et al., 
2022). In this study, childhood traumatic experiences 
are examined as a predictor variable, representing an 
individual’s early exposure to stressors that likely shape 
how individuals appraise stress and threats. These ex-
periences, in turn, influence psychological outcomes or 
internalizing symptomology in emerging adulthood, 
which serves as the outcome variable for this study. 
 Similarly, RECAST examines racial stress or 
race-related stress as an appraisal process, where in-
dividuals recognize a discriminatory racial encounter 
as racial (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). In the RE-
CAST framework, RS competency (the confidence 
and skills of families’ RS communication) is explored 
as a moderating variable, determining whether racial 
stress, coupled with the mediating variable of racial 
coping self-efficacy, influences outcomes for Black 
youth. The RECAST framework suggests that high-
er RS competency will enhance coping self-effica-
cy, ultimately leading to more positive and adaptive 
well-being outcomes for Black youth (Anderson & 
Stevenson, 2019). While RECAST focuses on RS 
competency as a potential protective factor, this study 
will explore the broader culmination of RS messag-
es. Specifically, we aim to determine whether the 
increased frequency of RS messages serves as a pro-
tective factor, moderating the effects of race-related 
stress. Although both TMSC and RECAST examine 
secondary appraisal—where individuals assess their 



7

BARBER & MANCE

coping resources—this study focuses on the frame-
works’ primary appraisal and outcome components. 
 The current study will add to the literature 
through two broad goals. First, the study will examine 
internalizing symptoms of Black emerging adults who 
have experienced race-related stress and childhood 
trauma. Specifically, this study will examine the mod-
erating effects of race-related stress on the relationship 
between childhood trauma and internalizing sympto-
mology (i.e., anxiety, depression, and somatization). 
Secondly, the study will investigate whether RS mes-
sages buffer against internalizing symptoms for Black 
emerging adults who have experienced race-related 
stress and childhood trauma. Thus, this study will ex-
amine the moderating effects of RS on the interaction 
of race-related stress and childhood trauma on inter-
nalizing symptoms. The study’s statistical framework 
is presented in Figure 1. We hypothesize the following: 
 Hypothesis 1a (H1a): Frequent exposure to 
race-related stress will increase internalizing symptoms.
 Hypothesis 1b (H1b): Frequent exposure to child-
hood trauma will increase internalizing symptoms. 
 Hypothesis 1c (H1c): Higher endorse-
ment of racial socialization messages will be as-
sociated with lower internalizing symptoms. 
 Hypothesis 2 (H2): The presence of race-re-
lated stress will exacerbate the relationship between 
childhood trauma and internalizing symptoms.
 Hypothesis 3 (H3): Racial socialization will 
moderate the relationship between childhood trauma 
and race-related stress such that greater experience of 
racial socialization will buffer against the negative ef-
fects of childhood trauma on internalizing symptoms.
To our knowledge, this serves as the first research 
study to explore whether RS serves as a protective 
factor for Black emerging adults who have experi-
enced race-related stress and childhood trauma. Spe-
cifically, limited studies have examined how traumat-
ic events experienced in childhood, combined with 
race-related stress, impact Black youth in emerging 
adulthood. Additionally, there is a gap in research 
exploring RS messages as a potential protective fac-
tor for Black emerging adults who have experienced 
both childhood trauma and race-related stress. 

Methods 
 A Mid-Atlantic University Institutional Re-
view Board approved all study procedures. Data were 

collected between February 2022 and April 2022. 
Participants
 Participants were Black emerging adults recruit-
ed from the Mid-Atlantic region and via online social 
media platforms. Eligible participants were between 
the ages of 18 and 25, identified as Black or of Afri-
can descent (e.g., African American, African, Black 
Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, etc.), and considered En-
glish their primary language. Exclusion criteria in-
cluded respondents who did not identify as of Afri-
can descent, were not between the ages of 18 and 25, 
and did not consider English their primary language. 
Procedure
 Recruitment for participation included inform-
ing potential participants about the study through 
academic channels and social media platforms. A re-
cruitment flyer containing a quick response code or 
QR code that linked to the study’s Qualtrics survey 
or questionnaire was distributed through social me-
dia platforms (e.g., Facebook and Instagram), shared 
with academic professors via email, and posted on 
a university online learning management system. 
 The Qualtrics questionnaire took approximately 
25 minutes to complete. Prior to beginning the sur-
vey, the initial page included the informed consent 
information for participants. Participants were able 
to give their consent to the study by indicating yes or 
no electronically. After completing the survey, psy-
chology students recruited from the subject pool had 
the option to receive extra credit for their course if ap-
proved by an undergraduate psychology professor. All 
other participants were eligible to receive one of three 
drawings for an electronic gift card valued at $25     .
Measures
Demographic Information 
 A demographic questionnaire was administered 
to participants to obtain brief background informa-
tion. The questionnaire gathered information such 
as race/ethnicity, gender, family household income, 
the participant’s current income, description of the 
setting where the participant was raised (e.g., rural 
vs. urban setting), marital and occupational statuses, 
educational level, and mental health treatment his-
tory (i.e., “Have you ever seen a therapist (for over a 
month) for trauma, anxiety, and/or depression?”). 
Childhood Trauma 
 The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire – Short 
Form (CTQ; Bernstein, 1998) is a 28-item self-report 



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TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION

questionnaire that screens childhood traumatic expe-
riences using five subscales: emotional abuse, physical 
abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and physi-
cal neglect. Participants are asked to rate the severity 
in which a childhood trauma affected them using a 
5-point Likert scale of 1 (never true) to 5 (very often 
true). The item responses included four categories 
from non to low trauma exposure to extreme trau-
ma exposure. Thus, higher scores indicated higher 
trauma exposure. Sample item statements are “I be-
lieve I was sexually abused,” and “I thought my par-
ents wished I had never been born.” The CTQ also 
contains a minimization/denial validity scale created 
to identify underreporting of maltreatment. For this 
study, the minimization/denial scale was not assessed. 
This study aimed to explore participants’ perceptions 
of childhood traumatic experiences, if experienced. 
Therefore, the minimization/denial of experiences was 
not the focus of this study. In the current study, the 
five subscales (emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual 
abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect) were 
summed for a global score. While this measure does 
not measure primary appraisal directly, it captures ear-
ly stress exposure, which may influence how individu-
als appraise stressful situations. Of note, as indicated 
by Bernstein (1998), two subscales (i.e., emotional and 
physical neglect) on the Childhood Trauma Question-
naire (CTQ) were reverse-coded in SPSS. The CTQ 
measure has test-retest reliability coefficients ranging 
from .79 to .86 and an internal consistency coeffi-
cient ranging from .66 to .92 (Bernstein, 1998; Bern-
stein et al., 2003; Liebschutz et al., 2018). The CTQ 
has also been shown to have good convergent validity 
when compared to clinician-administered interviews 
assessing child abuse (Bernstein, 1998). Cronbach's 
alpha for the current sample was excellent, α = 0.92.
Race-Related Stress
 The Index of Race-Related Stress – Brief Version 
(IRRS-B) (Utsey, 1999) is a 22-item questionnaire 
that measures African Americans’ race-related stress 
on racism and discrimination across three factors: 
cultural, institutional, and individual racism. The IR-
RS-B requires participants to assess racist events that 
either they or someone close to them has experienced 
and then rate the level of severity of how the experienc-
es have impacted them. A 5-point Likert scale of 0 (this 
never happened to me) to 4 (the event happened, and I 
was extremely upset) is used to rate the participants’ re-

sponses. Sample item statements include “You notice 
that when individuals belonging to your ethnic group 
are killed by the police, the media informs the public 
of the victims criminal record,” and “While shopping 
at a store, or when attempting to make a purchase, you 
were ignored as if you were not a serious customer or 
didn’t have any money.” The Cronbach alpha across 
scales include the Cultural Racism subscale being .78, 
the Institutional Racism subscale being .69, the Indi-
vidual Racism subscale being .78, and Global Racism 
being .77. Subsequently, the concurrent validity of 
the IRRS-B was demonstrated through its positive 
and significant correlations with the Perceived Stress 
Scale (Cohen et al.,1983; Utsey et al., 2002), particu-
larly with the cultural and individual racism subscales. 
The global racism score was assessed as moderator 1 
in this study. The summed scores for each subscale 
were transformed into z-scores and then summed to 
obtain a global racism score. Cronbach's alpha for the 
global score of the current sample was good, α = 0.87.
Racial Socialization
 Racial Socialization Questionnaire-teen (RSQ-t; 
Lesane-Brown et al., 2006) is a theoretically derived 
26-item questionnaire that assesses participants’ per-
ception of the frequency of racial socialization messag-
es and activities they have received from parents over 
the past year. This measure seeks to capture how recent 
racial socialization messages may or may not buffer 
against the effects of past childhood trauma. There are 
six subscales measured within the RSQ-t, which in-
clude racial pride messages (α = .63), racial barrier mes-
sages (α = .69), egalitarian messages (α = .64), self-worth 
messages (α = .74), negative messages (α = .66), and be-
havioral messages (α = .73). For this study, only five sub-
scales were examined, excluding the negative messages 
subscale. The negative message subscale did not direct-
ly align with the study’s objective, which was to assess 
RS messages that have been found to be protective or 
associated with promoting psychological well-being. 
The five subscales were summed up to create a global 
score for racial socialization messages. Participants use 
a 3-point scale of 0 (never) to 2 (more than twice) to 
respond to item statements such as “Told you that you 
are somebody special, no matter what anybody says,” 
and “Told you that some people may dislike you be-
cause of the color of your skin.” The RSQ-t has shown 
good predictive validity of attitudes regarding racial 
identity and intergroup relationships (Lesane-Brown 



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BARBER & MANCE

et al., 2006). Additionally, the RSQ has demonstrated 
good reliability and validity in predicting Black Amer-
ican youths’ academic and psychological outcomes 
(Neblett et al., 2008). Although Lesane-Brown et al. 
(2006) originally developed the RSQ-t mainly for ad-
olescents, the Cronbach’s alpha of the current sample, 
including Black emerging adults, was good, α = 0.87.
Internalizing Symptomology
 The Brief Symptom Inventory – 18 (BSI-18; 
Derogatis, 2011) is an 18-item self-report measure that 
screens for internalizing symptoms such as somatiza-
tion, depression, and anxiety. The participants rate 
how much they have been bothered by internalizing 
symptoms in the past week using a 5-point Likert scale 
of 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Extremely). Sample item state-
ments include “How much were you distressed by feeling 
lonely?” and “How much were you distressed by feeling 
hopeless about the future?” Derogatis (2011) found that 
the internal consistency for somatization (α = .74), de-
pression (α = .84), and anxiety (α = .79) was acceptable. 
The total range of scores is from 0 to 72, with higher 
scores indicating higher symptomology. The somatiza-
tion, depression, and anxiety subscales were summed 
for a global score of internalizing symptomology. It has 
been shown to have well-established validity through 
its two-factor analysis structure (Derogatis, 2011). 
Likewise, it demonstrated good factorial validity in 
a study population comprised primarily of young or 
emerging adults (Recklitis et al., 2006). Cronbach's 
alpha for the current sample was excellent, α = 0.94.
Data Analysis
Missingness Data and Preliminary Assumptions
 Three hundred-ninety-two study participants 
were initially recruited. Before conducting the pri-
mary study analyses, preliminary assumptions were 
examined to assess normality, linearity, homosce-
dasticity, and outliers. Cases were removed from the 
study if subscale measures of main study variables had 
more than 50% of their questions or items missing. 
This resulted in the removal of 47 cases. Subsequent-
ly, two additional cases were removed because partic-
ipants did not identify as being of African descent. 
 Mahalanobis distance scores were used to detect 
multivariate outliers. A threshold of p <.001 was uti-
lized, which resulted in one case being identified as a po-
tential outlier. Therefore, this case was removed from 
the analysis. There were no other outliers detected. 
Hayes PROCESS analysis (Hayes, 2017) was utilized 

to examine the moderated-moderation analysis. The 
Hayes PROCESS analysis conducted listwise deletion, 
removing one additional case. Upon further investiga-
tion, the internalizing symptoms measure (i.e., BSI-18) 
was incomplete. This resulted in the regression analy-
ses, including a final sample size of N = 341 participants.  
 All assumptions of multiple regression were 
tested and met, including linearity, normality, and 
evidence of homoscedasticity. There was no major 
threat of multicollinearity because the correlation 
between childhood trauma and race-related stress 
is less than .90 (R (339) = .146, p > .05), childhood 
trauma and racial socialization (RS) messages is less 
than .90 (R (339) = -.253, p > .05), and race-relat-
ed stress and RS messages is less than .90 (R (339) 
= -.270, p > .05). Furthermore, the tolerance values 
.887, .878, and .840 exceed .20, and the VIF factors of 
1.127, 1.139, and 1.190 are lower than 4.00, meaning 
each independent variable has a strong uniqueness.
Descriptive Statistics
 Descriptive statistics were calculated in the Statisti-
cal Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 (IBM 
Corp., 2019) for all available data, including the per-
centage for all categorical and demographic variables. 
The mean and standard deviation were also calculated 
for all main study variables and their subscales. Descrip-
tives of the main study variables are shown in Table 1. 
 Primary statistical analyses were conducted in 
SPSS version 26, which included assessing multiple 
linear regression models and utilizing Andrew Hayes’ 
PROCESS Model 3 (Hayes, 2017; moderated moder-
ation analysis). Childhood trauma (independent vari-
able; CTQ score), internalizing symptoms (dependent 
variable; BSI-18 score), race-related stress (moderator 
1; IRRS-B score), and RS messages (moderator 2; 
RSQ-t score) were examined in the moderated mod-
eration model (Hayes, 2017). All variables that define 
products were mean-centered. The conditioning val-
ues were set at -1SD, Mean, and +1SD. Confidence 
intervals were set to 95, with 5,000 bootstrap samples.  

Results
Descriptive Statistics 
 Our study sample was predominantly women 
(75.4%) and identified as Black/African American 
(88.9%). Nearly one-third of the sample was 18 years 
old (31%), and over half of the sample endorsed having 
“some college” (55.3%) as their highest level of educa-



10

TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION

tion. For further demographic information, see Table 2. 
Multiple Linear Regression Models 
 Three hypotheses were analyzed utilizing the Sta-
tistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 
(IBM Corp., 2019) to test multiple linear regression 
models. The three hypotheses consisted of the follow-
ing: frequent exposure to race-related stress will increase 
internalizing symptoms (H1a), frequent experiences of 
childhood trauma will increase internalizing symptoms 
(H1b), and higher endorsement of RS messages will be 
associated with lower internalizing symptoms (H1c). 
 Simple linear regression model results indicated 
that the predictors childhood trauma, race-related 
stress, and RS messages explained 27% of the variance 
(R2 = 0.271, F = 41.696, p < .001) in internalizing 
symptoms. It was found that race-related stress sig-
nificantly predicted internalizing symptoms, B = .198, 
t (340) = 3.724, SE = 0.53, SE = 0.53, p < .001, 95% 
CI [0.093, 0.302]. Therefore, the more Black emerg-
ing adults experienced race-related stress, the higher 
their total internalizing symptoms, which supports 
hypothesis 1a. Further, childhood trauma significantly 
predicted internalizing symptoms, B = .370, t (340) = 
9.331, SE = 0.040, p < .001, 95% CI [0.292, 0.448]. 
Thus, the more childhood trauma Black emerging 
adults experienced, the higher their total internalizing 
symptoms. This supports hypothesis 1b. Interestingly, 
the relationship between RS messages and internal-
izing symptoms was not statistically significant, B = 
.072, t (340) = 0.766, p = .444, 95% CI [-0.113, 0.256]. 
Therefore, hypothesis 1c is not supported. See Table 3. 
Moderated Moderation 
 The hypothesized moderated moderation effects 
were tested using PROCESS macro model number 
3 (Hayes, 2017). The model tested the moderating 
effects of race-related stress on the relationship be-
tween childhood trauma and internalizing symp-
tomology (H2). Further, the model examined the 
moderating effects of RS messages on the moderating 
variable of race-related stress on the path of child-
hood trauma and internalizing symptomology (H3). 
 Hypothesis 2 proposed that the presence of 
race-related stress would exacerbate the relation-
ship between childhood trauma and internaliz-
ing symptoms. Race-related stress did not mod-
erate the relationship between childhood trauma 
and internalizing symptoms, B = -0.004, SE = 
0.0025, t (340) = -0.16, p = 0.87, 95% CI [-0.0054, 

0.0046], which opposes the study’s hypothesis 2. 
 Hypothesis 3 proposed that RS messages would 
moderate the relationship between childhood trauma 
and race-related stress, such that greater endorsement 
of RS messages would buffer against the negative ef-
fects of childhood trauma on internalizing symptoms. 
The results indicated that there was a conditional 
interaction between childhood trauma and RS mes-
sages, B = 0.0105, SE = .0045, t (340) = 2.35, p < .05, 
95% CI = [0.0017, 0.0194]. Thus, higher endorsed 
childhood trauma and RS messages, in the absence 
of race-related stress, were associated with increased 
internalized symptomology. This contradicts the 
proposed hypothesis that RS messages will buffer 
against deleterious symptoms of childhood trauma. 
While childhood trauma and race-related stress (re-
spectively) were significantly related to internalizing 
symptoms, RS failed to act as a buffer against trau-
ma and symptoms. Rather, it appears to exacerbate 
internalizing symptoms in the presence of childhood 
trauma.  The overall moderated moderation model 
was not supported, B = 0.0002, SE = 0.0002, t (340) 
= 0.99, p = .32, 95% CI [-0.0002, 0.0007]. See Table 4.  
Exploratory Analysis: Simple Moderation 
Analysis
 The moderated-moderation model found that 
higher endorsed childhood trauma and RS messages, 
in the absence of race-related stress, were associated 
with increased internalized symptomology. Based on 
the partially moderated moderation findings, a sim-
ple moderation (i.e., Hayes Model 1) was conduct-
ed to explore the direct relationships of RS messages 
on childhood trauma and internalizing symptoms. 
 RS messages were found to moderate the rela-
tionship between childhood trauma and internalizing 
symptoms, B = 0.0095, SE = 0.0043, t (340) = 2.2438, 
p < .05, 95%, CI [0.0012, 0.0179]. The interaction 
between trauma and RS messages accounts for 1.1% 
of the variance in internalizing symptoms for Black 
emerging adults (R² = .011, F (1, 337) = 5.035, p < .05). 
 Additionally, it was found that when RS mes-
sages were one standard deviation above the mean, 
and the more Black emerging adults were exposed to 
childhood trauma, this indicated higher internalizing 
symptomology, B = 0.4976, SE = 0.0567, t (340) = 
8.77, p < .001, 95% CI [0.3860, 0.6091]. See Figure 2. 



11

BARBER & MANCE

Discussion
 The present study sought to explore the relation-
ship between childhood trauma, race-related stress, 
racial socialization (RS) messages, and internalizing 
symptoms among Black emerging adults. Specifical-
ly, this study investigated the influence of race-related 
stress on the relationship between childhood trauma 
and internalizing symptoms. Further, RS messag-
es were examined to see if they buffered against the 
effects of race-related stress on the relationship be-
tween childhood trauma and internalizing symptoms. 
 As expected, the results of this study confirmed 
that Black emerging adults who endorsed race-relat-
ed stress experienced increased internalizing symp-
tomology. Additionally, the results found that Black 
emerging adults who experienced childhood trauma 
experienced increased internalizing symptomology. 
The RECAST frameworks were used to explore the 
transactional pattern of childhood trauma, race-relat-
ed stress, RS messages, and mental health outcomes in 
Black emerging adults. Specifically, the current study 
explored the internalizing symptomology (i.e., depres-
sion, anxiety, and somatization) of Black emerging 
adults who have experienced childhood trauma and 
race-related stress. Further, the RECAST framework 
was utilized to investigate if RS messages functioned 
as a protective factor for Black emerging adults who 
experienced childhood trauma and race-related stress.
 It was initially predicted that for Black emerging 
adults who had experienced childhood trauma, the 
presence of race-related stress would exacerbate their 
internalizing symptoms. Additionally, it was predict-
ed that for Black emerging adults who experienced 
childhood trauma and race-related stress, the more 
RS messages endorsed would be associated with de-
creased internalizing symptomology. Thus, higher en-
dorsement of RS messages would be associated with 
lower internalizing symptoms. Altogether, this study 
investigated the internalizing symptomology of Black 
emerging adults who have experienced complex trau-
ma (i.e., childhood trauma and race-related stress) and 
explored if RS messages served as a protective factor.  
Race-Related Stress as a Moderator 
 The study results did not support the hypothe-
sized moderated model that the presence of race-re-
lated stress would exacerbate the relationship be-
tween childhood trauma and internalizing symptoms. 
However, when solely examining the relationship 

between race-related stress and symptoms, our hy-
pothesis aligned with previous literature, such that 
Black emerging adults who experienced race-related 
stress experienced increased internalizing symptoms. 
Previous literature confirms that Black Americans 
experience increased internalizing symptoms and dis-
proportionately experience chronic stress due to rac-
ism and racial discrimination (Franklin et al., 2006).
 Although we found that race-related stress did 
not exacerbate the internalizing symptomology of 
Black emerging adults who have experienced child-
hood trauma, the literature suggests that racial stress 
or trauma can worsen the mental health outcomes 
of Black Americans with trauma histories (Mekawi 
et al., 2021; Metzger et al., 2021). According to the 
RECAST framework, racial coping self-efficacy medi-
ates the relationship between racial stress and coping, 
leading to psychological and overall well-being out-
comes for Black youth. The current study integrat-
ed a childhood trauma component absent from the 
RECAST model. This component was added in the 
current study to examine how interpersonal trauma, 
in addition to racial stress, influences Black emerging 
adults’ mental health outcomes. Thus, the lack of as-
sociation between racial stress, childhood trauma, and 
symptoms may be due to the strong linear relation-
ships between childhood trauma and symptoms, as 
well as race-related stress and symptoms. As a result, 
race-related stress may not have acted as a moderat-
ing variable or exacerbated the symptoms of child-
hood trauma, given that the internalizing symptoms 
of childhood trauma were already highly significant. 
 Further, another possible explanation for race-re-
lated stress not emerging as a significant moderator 
may pertain to racial socialization inherently involv-
ing elements of race-related stress. Discussions that 
prepare individuals for discrimination or teach indi-
viduals how to navigate racism can be stress-inducing. 
As such, racial socialization messages may partially 
account for the effects of race-related stress, potential-
ly overlapping with or absorbing its influence in the 
model. This explanation may help clarify why a higher 
frequency of racial socialization messages was associat-
ed with greater internalizing symptoms among Black 
emerging adults with childhood trauma histories. 
 Additionally, as mentioned previously, the RE-
CAST model incorporated racial coping self-effi-
cacy as a mediator between racial stress and cop-



12

ing, leading to predicted outcomes. The current 
study did not examine coping self-efficacy. This 
may further explain the lack of association between 
variables, as the current study did not investigate 
Black emerging adults’ perception of their ability 
to manage racial stressors and childhood trauma.  
Racial Socialization Messages as Moderator 2
 In this study, we tested a moderated-moderation 
model to examine whether RS messages moderated the 
effect of race-related stress on the relationship between 
childhood trauma and internalizing symptomatology 
of Black emerging adults. To our knowledge, this is the 
first study to test this moderated moderation model 
with Black emerging adults. No significant relation-
ship was found between childhood trauma, race-relat-
ed stress, RS messages, and internalizing symptoms. 
Therefore, our hypothesis was not supported; in fact, 
the research findings contradicted our hypothesis due 
to there being a significant conditional interaction 
between childhood trauma, RS messages, and symp-
toms. Specifically, Black emerging adults who expe-
rienced more childhood traumatic experiences and 
received RS messages (i.e., racial pride, racial barrier, 
egalitarian, self-worth, and behavioral) were associat-
ed with increased internalizing symptoms. This con-
tradicts previous findings that have suggested that re-
ceiving a combination of RS messages is advantageous 
to Black American youths’ mental health outcomes 
(Davis et al., 2017; Granberg et al., 2012; Neblett et 
al., 2008). Subsequently, our findings contradict the 
study results of Fischer and Shaw (1999), who noted 
that the more African American college students re-
ceived RS messages, this moderated the relationship 
between racist experiences and poorer mental health 
outcomes. Notably, these previous studies have found 
that the mental health outcomes of Black adolescents 
receiving RS messages improve when experiencing ra-
cial stressors, not interpersonal or childhood trauma. 
 In the present study, the lack of a significant asso-
ciation between childhood trauma, race-related stress, 
RS messages, and internalizing symptoms may pertain 
to the effects of RS deteriorating as a protective factor 
for Black emerging adults who have experienced cu-
mulative childhood trauma and race-related stress. Ac-
cordingly, previous studies have found mixed findings 
when examining the effects of RS messages on Black 
Americans’ psychological well-being. For instance, 
while some studies have found racial or cultural pride 

messages to be associated with positive psychological 
outcomes (Bynum et al., 2007; Davis et al., 2017), 
some studies have found racial barrier messages to be 
associated with increased depressive symptoms (Liu & 
Lau, 2013; Stevenson et al., 1996). For Black emerging 
adults who have experienced childhood trauma, being 
more conscious of racial discrimination and navigat-
ing psychological challenges from childhood trauma 
may lead to adverse mental health outcomes. The 
present study’s findings contribute to the growing 
body of literature that RS messages may make Black 
emerging adults more aware of racial discrimination.
Our findings further suggest that for Black Amer-
icans with extensive childhood trauma histories, 
the more endorsed RS messages have the po-
tential to complicate mental health outcomes. 
Limitations
 While study findings were notable, the study 
contained limitations. This study was cross-sec-
tional. Thus, the study findings cannot indi-
cate any causal relationships between variables.
 Additionally, as mentioned previously, the pres-
ent study did not examine all the RECAST framework 
components. The RECAST framework examined 
Black youths’ RS competency moderating racial stress 
and racial coping self-efficacy, and self-efficacy mediat-
ed the relationship between stress and coping, leading 
to Black youths’ mental health and overall well-being 
outcomes. While the present study utilized the RE-
CAST framework to examine the relationship between 
trauma and stress, RS as a coping strategy or modera-
tor, and mental health outcomes, this study did not 
examine RS competency or racial coping self-efficacy. 
Thus, we are not aware of Black emerging adults’ per-
ception of how they believe they manage racial stress 
and trauma, nor are we aware of this population’s con-
fidence and skill level in engaging in RS communica-
tion (i.e., RS competency). Examining these RECAST 
components would likely provide more context in 
understanding Black emerging adults’ mental health 
outcomes that have experienced race-related stress 
and complex trauma. Specifically, the RECAST Mod-
el emphasized the importance of parent and youth 
competence in transmitting and engaging in RS com-
munication (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). Future 
studies should examine RS competency and coping 
self-efficacy for trauma and race-related stress to effec-
tively explore how RS can serve as a protective factor. 

TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION



13

BARBER & MANCE

 In alignment with the RECAST model, the pri-
mary appraisal of discriminatory racial encounters 
determines one’s level of racial stress. The primary ap-
praisal is best understood by determining the second-
ary appraisal of one’s racial coping self-efficacy, which 
will aid in determining how one engages and navigates 
discriminatory racial encounters. It is critical to note 
that data collection for this study occurred during a 
time when Black Americans were experiencing both 
the COVID-19 pandemic and a racial pandemic. The 
COVID-19 pandemic highlighted long-standing racial 
disparities in health outcomes, while Black Americans 
were also experiencing heightened racial injustices that 
were highly publicized across all media platforms. The 
heightened sociopolitical period and persistent racial 
injustice may have impacted how the study population 
attended to and their understanding of RS messages. 
Thus, race-related stress was exacerbated during this 
time, which may explain why RS messages did not serve 
as a protective factor. Therefore, a limitation of this 
study was not examining the population’s racial cop-
ing self-efficacy and RS competency, especially during 
a time of heightened discriminatory racial encounters. 
 Another limitation of this study was that our 
study population had similar demographics. The 
study population mainly consisted of college stu-
dents. Further, most of the study sample had a middle 
to high household family income during childhood. 
Research has found that context is essential regard-
ing RS. For example, previous studies have found 
that RS messages are communicated more frequently 
in families with higher education and SES (Hughes 
et al., 2006). A more diverse sample consisting of 
a community sample could help provide more un-
derstanding of how RS can be generalized to Black 
Americans to serve as a protective factor for adverse 
outcomes of childhood trauma and race-related stress. 
 Subsequently, nearly half the study population in-
dicated that they had seen a therapist for depression, 
anxiety, or trauma for over a month. Whether the 
participant saw a therapist or not was not controlled. 
Therefore, the lack of association between childhood 
trauma, race-related stress, RS messages, and internal-
izing symptoms may be due to coping contributing to 
other contextual factors, including mental health treat-
ment. Future studies may consider controlling for men-
tal health treatment to assess RS as a protective factor. 
 Another possible reason for the lack of relation-

ship between childhood trauma, race-related stress, 
RS messages, and internalizing symptoms may be 
due to the selected measures in the study. Nota-
bly, the data collected was based on retrospective 
experiences, including Black emerging adults re-
counting past childhood experiences and recalling 
RS messages they received or did not receive from 
their parents or caregivers. While we firmly believe 
our study participants’ understanding of their 
past experiences is insightful and informative, this 
study may be limited in participants' recounting all 
their experiences. Further, our outcome measure 
was limited in exploring the full range of psycho-
logical distress this population may be experienc-
ing. The BSI-18 explored only anxiety, depression, 
and somatization symptoms within seven days. 
 Additionally, the present study only used 
quantitative measures to examine the symptom-
ology of Black emerging adults who have experi-
enced childhood trauma and race-related stress. 
This is limiting, as quantitative measures do not 
explore the in-depth life experiences of this pop-
ulation and how their experiences contribute to 
their mental health outcomes. Qualitative and 
mixed-methods studies would help to better un-
derstand Black emerging adults’ childhood trau-
ma, racial stress, RS, and psychological outcomes. 
All of which could help provide more insight into 
how RS may serve as a protective factor for this 
population. Lastly, the RSQ-t measure, which 
assessed the frequency of racial socialization mes-
sages Black emerging adults received from parents 
or caregivers, was limited in capturing messages 
across child development. This is a notable lim-
itation, as emerging adults may engage in fewer 
race-related discussions with caregivers over time. 
Future Directions 
 Our study findings indicate that Black emerg-
ing adults with childhood trauma histories and 
race-related stress are linked to increased internal-
izing symptoms. Future research should consider 
exploring coping strategies that serve as protective 
factors for this population. Specifically, future 
research should investigate different subtypes or 
different types of childhood trauma (e.g., physical 
abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect), racial stress-
ors (e.g., cultural, institutional, and individual rac-
ism), and RS messages (e.g., racial pride and self-



14

worth messages) as each experience could influence 
one’s mental health differently. Specifically, future re-
search should examine the associations between differ-
ent types of childhood trauma, race-related stressors, 
and RS messages to determine whether certain types 
of trauma are linked to race-related stress and wheth-
er specific RS messages serve a protective role in these 
relationships. Examining this relationship is particu-
larly important because one possible explanation for 
why race-related stress did not emerge as a moderator 
or exacerbate the internalizing symptoms associated 
with childhood trauma may be that race-related stress 
is already closely tied to the traumatic experiences 
encountered during childhood for this population. 
 Although we found that RS did not serve as a 
protective factor for our study population’s symp-
toms, we hesitate to conclude that RS does not serve 
as a protective factor for Black emerging adults who 
have experienced childhood trauma and race-related 
stress. This is due to previous studies suggesting that 
RS promotes positive mental health outcomes for 
Black Americans. In order to determine RS’s role as 
a coping mechanism for Black emerging adults with 
a history of trauma and race-related stress, future re-
search should examine the RECAST component vari-
ables, RS competency, and coping self-efficacy, and the 
present study variables, childhood trauma, race-related 
stress, RS, and internalizing symptoms. Examining all 
study variables will provide more insight into this pop-
ulation’s perception of their traumatic and stressful 
experiences and how RS could buffer against symp-
toms. Focusing on the quality of RS communica-
tion—specifically by examining RS competency (i.e., 
confidence and skills in RS communication)—rather 
than the frequency of RS messages, is likely to pro-
vide greater insight into its role as a protective factor.
 Regarding methodology, future studies should 
include outcome measures      that explore more symp-
tomology (e.g., externalizing symptoms, self-esteem, 
hypervigilance, etc.) with a more diverse sample popu-
lation. Further, future research should consider using 
a qualitative or mixed-methods research design. This 
design would help scholars gain a more in-depth and 
nuanced understanding of Black Americans’ psycho-
logical outcomes who have experienced childhood 
trauma, race-related stress, and received RS messages.  
Implications 
 The current study’s findings indicate that child-

hood traumatic experiences and race-related stress influ-
ence mental health outcomes for Black emerging adults. 
RS messages did not moderate symptoms for Black 
emerging adults who experienced increased childhood 
trauma and race-related stress. However, results found 
that Black emerging adults who experienced childhood 
traumatic experiences and received RS messages were as-
sociated with having increased internalizing symptoms. 
 Although we found that a higher frequency of 
cumulative RS messages has the ability to produce 
adverse mental health outcomes for Black emerging 
adults who have experienced trauma, the literature 
supports that RS messages can serve as a protective fac-
tor for Black Americans who have experienced race-re-
lated stress (Davis et al., 2017; Granberg et al., 2012; 
Neblett et al., 2008). Our study adds to the growing 
body of literature that context is important when com-
municating RS messages. Thus, it is essential to con-
sider Black Americans’ trauma histories when utilizing 
RS, as certain messages may have the ability to improve 
or worsen mental health outcomes for this population. 
For RS to be effective in serving as a protective factor 
for Black emerging adults who have experienced child-
hood trauma and race-related stress, assessing for and 
fostering RS competency may be beneficial for Black 
emerging adults and social figures. Social figures, in-
cluding parents, caregivers, family members, teachers, 
mentors, mental health professionals, etc., may bene-
fit from participating in accessible community work-
shops and work training that provide education on 
RS and practical RS communication tools. It is also 
suggested that RS resources and education are provid-
ed for Black emerging adults, which will help strength-
en RS communication and help build confidence 
in utilizing RS when navigating trauma and stress. 
 Social figures practicing cultural humility (being 
open, self-aware, and self-reflective when interact-
ing with diverse individuals) is also essential (Mosher 
et al., 2017). Cultural humility is necessary as it em-
bodies person-centered, respectable, and nonjudg-
mental communication. For Black emerging adults 
who have experienced significant trauma and stress, 
cultural humility may help this population feel safe 
when feeling vulnerable discussing significant life 
stressors. Researchers and clinicians should incorpo-
rate cultural humility into practice with ethnically, 
racially, and culturally diverse clients or patients and 
recognize within-group differences (Metzger et al., 

TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION



15

BARBER & MANCE

2021). This is critical when assessing and treating cli-
ents, as the trauma this population has experienced 
and the RS messages they receive will vary from per-
son to person and impact individuals differently.  
Therefore, mental health clinicians working with 
Black emerging adults should consider implementing 
culturally tailored interventions in assessment and 
therapy settings to help meet this population’s unique 
needs. In terms of assessment, clinicians should use 
culturally appropriate assessment tools to assess the cli-
ent’s childhood trauma and race-related stress history. 
Additionally, clinicians should assess the RS messag-
es that clients already receive and how those messages 
impact them. Assessing the RS messages the client al-
ready receives and utilizes will help the clinician under-
stand which messages have been beneficial and harm-
ful for the client. This will further help the clinician 
know which messages to incorporate into treatment. 
Following assessment, the clinician should collabo-
rate with the client to provide culturally responsive 
treatment that best meets the client’s needs. This may 
include a cultural adaptation to trauma treatment. 
For example, Metzger and Colleagues (2021) creat-
ed a culturally responsive adaptation to Trauma Fo-
cused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) that 
focuses on implementing RS into TF-CBT for Black 
youth with interpersonal and racial trauma histories. 
The findings of this study highlight that more ex-
ploration of culturally responsive and accessible 
coping strategies and treatment is needed for Black 
emerging adults experiencing childhood trauma 
and race-related stress. Notably, it is imperative to 
acknowledge that, regardless of RS serving as a po-
tential cultural coping strategy that may reduce psy-
chological distress related to stress and trauma, this is 
not a solution to systemic oppression. We assert that 
the solution lies in recognizing and addressing the 
historical and ongoing systemic and racial oppres-
sion embedded within societal structures. RS can be 
most effective when there is a committed effort to 
confront and dismantle systemic racial oppression. 
Conclusion
 In conclusion, the results of this study provide 
new insight into the influence of childhood trauma, 
race-related stress, and RS messages on Black emerg-
ing adults internalizing symptomology. Using some 
components of the RECAST framework, we found 
that Black emerging adults experience increased inter-

nalizing symptoms when experiencing childhood 
trauma or race-related stress. We discovered that 
RS was not a protective factor for this popula-
tion. In fact, for Black emerging adults with child-
hood trauma histories, a higher endorsement of 
RS messages, in the absence of race-related stress, 
was linked to increased internalizing symptoms. 
These findings call for additional research to in-
vestigate all RECAST framework components, 
including RS competency and coping self-effi-
cacy. Analyzing all study variables will help bet-
ter understand how RS may serve as a protective 
factor for Black emerging adults who have expe-
rienced childhood trauma and race-related stress.
also explore childhood-onset psychosis and its asso-
ciation with sexual and intimate partner violence.

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Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics: Main Study Variables and Subscales



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TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION

Table 2

Demographics of the Sample 



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BARBER & MANCE

Table 3

All in Multiple Regression with Internalizing Symptoms as Outcome Variable, and Childhood Trauma, Race-Re-

lated Stress, and Racial Socialization Messages as Predictor Variables

Note. *p<.05. **p < .01. ***p< .001



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TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION

Table 4

Hayes PROCESS Model 3: Childhood Trauma (X), Race-Related Stress (W), Racial Socialization Messages (Z), 

Internalizing Symptomology (Y) 

Note. *p<.05. **p < .01. ***p< .001



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BARBER & MANCE

Figure 1

Statistical Framework of Childhood Trauma, Racial Socialization Race-Related Stress, and Internalizing 

Symptoms

Note. Andrew Hayes’ PROCESS Model 3 (moderated moderation analysis) is the statistical framework 
presented.  X = Childhood trauma (independent variable; CTQ score), Y = internalizing symptoms 
(dependent variable; BSI-18 score), W = race-related stress (moderator 1; IRRS-B score), and Z =Racial 
Socialization (RS) messages (moderator 2; RSQ-t score). 



24

Figure 2

Two-Way Interaction Between Combined Childhood Trauma and Combined Racial Socialization Messages

TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION


