The Relationship Between Microaggressions,Race-Based Traumatic Stress,and Posttraumatic Growth: Assessing the Moderating Role of Christian Gratitude for African American Christians

Abstract

In the current study, the authors sought to understand the relationships between Christian gratitude (CG) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) following racial and ethnic microaggressions (REMs) and race-based traumatic stress (RBTS) in a sample of Black Christians in the United States (N = 157). Using a moderated mediation analysis, the researchers explored the mediating role of RBTS in the link between REM and PTG, using CG as a moderator between RBTS and PTG. Findings showed a positive association between REM and PTG (a medium effect). Furthermore, a positive association appeared between REM and RBTS, and RBTS and PTG (both medium effects). Finally, inconsistent with the proposed hypothesis, the index of moderated mediation was not significant. In other words, CG showed no significant interactive relationship with RBTS for moderation between RBTS and PTG. The authors examine the therapeutic implications of the findings as well as potential directions for future research.

Keywords

microaggressions race-based stress posttraumatic growth Christian gratitude African Americans

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abdullah

Graham-LoPresti

J. R.

Tahirkheli

N. N.

Hughley

S. M.

Watson

L. T. J.

(2021). Microaggressions and posttraumatic stress disorder symptom scores among Black Americans: Exploring the link. Traumatology, 27, 244–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000259

Aguinis

Villamor

Ramani

R. S.

(2021). MTurk research: Review and recommendations. Journal of Management, 47(4), 823–837. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320969787

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 2020: The official guide to APA style (7th ed.). Author.

Avent Harris

J. R.

Wahesh

Barrow

Fripp

J. A.

(2021). Demographics, stigma, and religious coping and Christian African Americans’ help seeking. Counseling and Values, 66(1), 73–91. https://doi.org/10.1002/cvj.12145

Barber

(2021). African-American humor and trust. Human Studies, 44(2), 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-021-09576-5

Barends

A. J.

de Vries

R. E.

(2019). Noncompliant responding: Comparing exclusion criteria in MTurk personality research to improve data quality. Personality and Individual Differences, 143, 84–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.015

Bjorck

J. P.

Thurman

J. W.

(2007). Negative life events, patterns of positive and negative religious coping, and psychological functioning. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46(2), 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2007.00348.x

Bryant-Davis

Adams

Alejandre

Gray

A. A.

(2017). The trauma lens of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities: Trauma lens of police violence against ethnic minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 852–871. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12251

Bryant-Davis

Ocampo

(2006). A therapeutic approach to the treatment of racist-incident-based trauma. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 6(4), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1300/J135v06n04_01

10.

Carter

R. T.

(2007a). Clarification and purpose of the race-based traumatic stress injury model. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006295120

11.

Carter

R. T.

(2007b). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006292033

12.

Carter

R. T.

Johnson

V. E.

Roberson

Mazzula

S. L.

Kirkinis

Sant-Barket

(2017). Race-based traumatic stress, racial identity statuses, and psychological functioning: An exploratory investigation. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 48(1), 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000116

13.

Carter

R. T.

Kirkinis

Johnson

V. E.

(2020). Relationships between trauma symptoms and race-based traumatic stress. Traumatology, 26(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000217

14.

Carter

R. T.

Mazzula

Victoria

Vazquez

Hall

Smith

Sant-Barket

Forsyth

Bazelais

Williams

(2013). Initial development of the Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale: Assessing the emotional impact of racism. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025911

15.

Carter

R. T.

Muchow

(2017). Construct validity of the Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale and tests of measurement equivalence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(6), 688–695. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000256

16.

Chapman

L. K.

Steger

M. F.

(2010). Race and religion: Differential prediction of anxiety symptoms by religious coping in African American and European American young adults. Depression and Anxiety, 27(3), 316–322. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20510

17.

Chatters

L. M.

Taylor

R. J.

Jackson

J. S.

Lincoln

K. D.

(2008). Religious coping among African Americans, Caribbean Blacks and Non-Hispanic Whites. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(3), 371–386. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20202

18.

Comas-Díaz

Hall

G. N.

Neville

H. A.

(2019). Racial trauma: Theory, research, and healing: Introduction to the special issue. American Psychologist, 74(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000442

19.

Dekel

Ein-Dor

Solomon

(2012). Posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic distress: A longitudinal study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(1), 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021865

20.

Ellison

C. G.

Musick

M. A.

Henderson

A. K.

(2008). Balm in Gilead: Racism, religious Involvement, and psychological distress among African-American adults. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 47(2), 291–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00408.x

21.

Forrest-Bank

Jenson

(2015). Differences in experiences of racial and ethnic microaggression among Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Black, and White young adults. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 42(1), 141–161. https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3891

22.

Froh

J. J.

Yurkewicz

Kashdan

T. B.

(2009). Gratitude and subjective well-being in early adolescence: Examining gender differences. Journal of Adolescence, 32(3), 633–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.06.006

23.

Hayes

A. F.

(2022). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.

24.

Hayes

S. C.

Pistorello

Levin

M. E.

(2012). Acceptance and commitment therapy as a unified model of behavior change. The Counseling Psychologist, 40(7), 976–1002. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000012460836

25.

Henderson

Z. R.

Stephens

T. N.

Ortega-Williams

Walton

Q. L.

(2021). Conceptualizing healing through the African American experience of historical trauma. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91, 763–775. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000578

26.

Holder

A. M. B.

Jackson

M. A.

Ponterotto

J. G.

(2015). Racial microaggression experiences and coping strategies of Black women in corporate leadership. Qualitative Psychology, 2(2), 164–180. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000024

27.

Huff

Tingley

(2015). “Who are these people?” Evaluating the demographic characteristics and political preferences of MTurk survey respondents. Research & Politics, 2(3), 205316801560464. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168015604648

28.

Hughes

Kiecolt

K. J.

Keith

V. M.

(2014). How racial identity moderates the impact of financial stress on mental health among African Americans. Society and Mental Health, 4(1), 38–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156869313509635

29.

Johnson

V. E.

Carter

R. T.

(2020). Black cultural strengths and psychosocial well-being: An empirical analysis with Black American adults. Journal of Black Psychology, 46(1), 55–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798419889752

30.

Kim

Parmelee

Bryant

A. N.

Crowther

M. R.

Park

Parton

J. M.

Chae

D. H.

(2016). Geographic region matters in the relation between perceived racial discrimination and psychiatric disorders among Black older adults. The Gerontologist, 57, 1142–1147. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw129

31.

Kim

P. Y.

Kendall

D. L.

Webb

(2015). Religious coping moderates the relation between racism and psychological well-being among Christian Asian American college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(1), 87–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000055

32.

Knabb

J. J.

Vazquez

V. E.

Pate

R. A.

Garzon

F. L.

Wang

K. T.

Edison-Riley

Slick

A. R.

Smith

R. R.

Weber

S. E.

(2022). Christian meditation for trauma-based rumination: A two-part study examining the effects of an internet-based 4-week program. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 9, 253–271. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000255

33.

Knabb

J. J.

Vazquez

V. E.

Wang

K. T.

Pate

R. A.

(2023). The Christian Gratitude Scale: An emic approach to measuring thankfulness in every season of life. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 10, 304–315. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000278

34.

Lee

D. B.

Anderson

R. E.

Hope

M. O.

Zimmerman

M. A.

(2020). Racial discrimination trajectories predicting psychological well-being: From emerging adulthood to adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 56(7), 1413–1423. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000938

35.

Lee

R. T.

Perez

A. D.

Boykin

C. M.

Mendoza-Denton

(2019). On the prevalence of racial discrimination in the United States. PLOS ONE, 14(1), Article e0210698. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210698

36.

Lehmann

Steele

(2020). Going beyond positive and negative: Clarifying relationships of specific religious coping styles with posttraumatic outcomes. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(3), 345–355. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000310

37.

Lewis-Coles

M. E. L.

Constantine

M. G.

(2006). Racism-related stress, Africultural coping, and religious problem-solving among African Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(3), 433–443. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.12.3.433

38.

Lotfi-Kashani

Vaziri

Akbari

M. E.

Kazemi-Zanjani

Shamkoeyan

(2014). Predicting post traumatic growth based upon self- efficacy and perceived social support in cancer patients. Iranian Journal of Cancer Prevention, 7(3), 9.

39.

Kibler

J. L.

Sly

(2013). Gratitude is associated with greater levels of protective factors and lower levels of risks in African American adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 36(5), 983–991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.07.012

40.

Manove

E. E.

Lowe

S. R.

Bonumwezi

Preston

Waters

M. C.

Rhodes

J. E.

(2019). Posttraumatic growth in low-income Black mothers who survived Hurricane Katrina. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(2), 144–158. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000398

41.

McCleary-Gaddy

A. T.

Miller

C. T.

(2019). Negative religious coping as a mediator between perceived prejudice and psychological distress among African Americans: A structural equation modeling approach. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 11(3), 257–265. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000228

42.

Mesidor

J. K.

Sly

K. F.

(2019). Religious coping, general coping strategies, perceived social support, PTSD symptoms, resilience, and posttraumatic growth among survivors of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 22(2), 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2019.1580254

43.

Mosley

D. V.

Hargons

C. N.

Meiller

Angyal

Wheeler

Davis

Stevens-Watkins

(2021). Critical consciousness of anti-Black racism: A practical model to prevent and resist racial trauma. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 68(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000430

44.

Moslimani

Tamir

Budiman

Noe-Bustamante

Mora

(2024). Facts about the U.S. Black population. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/

45.

Nadal

K. L.

(2011). The racial and ethnic microaggressions Scale (REMS): Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 470–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025193

46.

Noel

J. A.

Johnson

M. V.

(2005). Psychological trauma, Christ’s passion, and the African American faith tradition. Pastoral Psychology, 53(4), 361–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-005-2063-6

47.

Ong

A. D.

Williams

D. R.

Nwizu

Gruenewald

T. L.

(2017). Everyday unfair treatment and multisystem biological dysregulation in African American adults. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000087

48.

Pargament

Feuille

Burdzy

(2011). The Brief RCOPE: Current psychometric status of a short measure of religious coping. Religions, 2(1), 51–76. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2010051

49.

Pargament

K. I.

Smith

B. W.

Koenig

H. G.

Perez

(1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 710. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388152

50.

Park

C. L.

Holt

C. L.

Christie

Williams

B. R.

(2018). Positive and negative religious coping styles as prospective predictors of well-being in African Americans. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10(4), 318–326. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000124

51.

Peer

Vosgerau

Acquisti

(2014). Reputation as a sufficient condition for data quality on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 1023–1031. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-013-0434-y

52.

Range

Gutierrez

Gamboni

Hough

N. A.

Wojciak

(2018). Mass trauma in the African American community: Using multiculturalism to build resilient systems. Contemporary Family Therapy, 40(3), 284–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-017-9449-3

53.

Rosmarin

D. H.

Pirutinsky

Cohen

A. B.

Galler

Krumrei

E. J.

(2011). Grateful to god or just plain grateful? A comparison of religious and general gratitude. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(5), 389–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.596557

54.

Rouse

S. V.

(2020). Reliability of MTurk data from masters and workers. Journal of Individual Differences, 41(1), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000300

55.

Sajeevanie

T. L.

(2020). Testing and interpreting correlation, moderation and mediation effects in social science researches. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, IV(VIII), 789–795.

56.

Schober

Boer

Schwarte

L. A.

(2018). Correlation coefficients: Appropriate use and interpretation. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 126(5), 1763–1768. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000002864

57.

Sisemore

(2014). Acceptance and commitment therapy: A Christian translation. Christian Psychology, 8(2), 6–16.

58.

Subandi

M. A.

Achmad

Kurniati

Febri

(2014). Spirituality, gratitude, hope and post-traumatic growth among the survivors of the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi in Java, Indonesia. Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, 18(1), 19–26.

59.

Sue

D. W.

Alsaidi

Awad

M. N.

Glaeser

Calle

C. Z.

Mendez

(2019). Disarming racial microaggressions: Microintervention strategies for targets, White allies, and bystanders. American Psychologist, 74(1), 128–142. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000296

60.

Sue

D. W.

Capodilupo

C. M.

Torino

G. C.

Bucceri

J. M.

Holder

A. M. B.

Nadal

K. L.

Esquilin

(2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271

61.

Szymanski

D. M.

Obiri

(2011). Do religious coping styles moderate or mediate the external and internalized racism-distress links? The Counseling Psychologist, 39(3), 438–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000010378895

62.

Taylor

R. E.

Kuo

B. C. H.

(2019). Black American psychological help-seeking intention: An integrated literature review with recommendations for clinical practice. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 29(4), 325–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/int0000131

63.

Taylor

R. J.

Chatters

Woodward

A. T.

Boddie

Peterson

G. L.

(2021). African Americans’ and Black Caribbeans’ religious coping for psychiatric disorders. Social Work in Public Health, 36(1), 68–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2020.1856749

64.

Tedeschi

R. G.

Calhoun

L. G.

(1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490090305

65.

Tedeschi

R. G.

Moore

B. A.

(2021). Posttraumatic growth as an integrative therapeutic philosophy. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 31(2), 180–194. https://doi.org/10.1037/int0000250

66.

Thompson

L. Y.

Snyder

C. R.

Hoffman

Michael

S. T.

Rasmussen

H. N.

Billings

L. S.

Heinze

Neufeld

J. E.

Shorey

H. S.

Roberts

J. C.

Roberts

D. E.

(2005). Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations. Journal of Personality, 73(2), 313–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00311.x

67.

Torres-Harding

Turner

(2015). Assessing racial microaggression distress in a diverse Sample. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 38(4), 464–490. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163278714550860

68.

Toussaint

L. L.

Kalayjian

Herman

Hein

Maseko

Diakonova-Curtis

(2017). Traumatic stress symptoms, forgiveness, and meaning in life in four traumatized regions of the world. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 6(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/ipp0000064

69.

Utsey

S. O.

Adams

E. P.

Bolden

(2000). Development and initial validation of the Africultural coping systems inventory. Journal of Black Psychology, 26(2), 194–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798400026002005

70.

Van Dusen

J. P.

Tiamiyu

M. F.

Kashdan

T. B.

Elhai

J. D

. (2015). Gratitude, depression and PTSD: Assessment of structural relationships. Psychiatry Research, 230(3), 867–870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.11.036

71.

Vazquez

V. E.

Stutz-Johnson

Sorbel

(2023). Black–white biracial Christians, discrimination, and mental health: A moderated mediation model of church support and religious coping. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 15, 6–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000415

72.

Vieselmeyer

Holguin

Mezulis

(2017). The role of resilience and gratitude in posttraumatic stress and growth following a campus shooting. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(1), 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000149

73.

Williams

M. T.

(2020a). Microaggressions: Clarification, evidence, and impact. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619827499

74.

Williams

M. T.

(2020b). Psychology cannot afford to ignore the many harms caused by microaggressions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619893362

75.

Williams

M. T.

Skinta

M. D.

Martin-Willett

(2021). After pierce and sue: A revised racial microaggressions taxonomy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(5), 991–1007. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691621994247

76.

Wood

A. M.

Froh

J. J.

Geraghty

A. W. A.

(2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(7), 890–905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005

77.

Yeo

Torres-Harding

S. R.

(2021). Rupture resolution strategies and the impact of rupture on the working alliance after racial microaggressions in therapy. Psychotherapy, 58(4), 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000372