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 6 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 8 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 9 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. References Anderson, R. E., Johnson, N., Jones, S. C. T., Patterson, A., & Anyiwo, N. (2024). Racial Socialization and Black Adolescent Mental Health and Developmental Outcomes: A Critical Review and Future Directions. Jour- nal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 53(5), 709–732. https://doi.org/10.1080/153 74416.2024.2384025 Anderson, R. 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Descriptive Statistics: Main Study Variables and Subscales 20 TRAUMA, RACE-RELATED STRESS, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION Table 2 Demographics of the Sample 21 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 22 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 23 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