Racialized Traumatic Media and Black Young Adults’ Health: The Moderating Relationship of Race-Based Traumatic Stress and Black Lives Matter Support

Abstract

Persistent anti-Black police brutality exposes Black people to racialized traumatic media (e.g., videos of Black people being killed) which can harm Black people’s mental health and influence coping behaviors like alcohol use (AU). However, activist support (e.g., support and/or involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement; BLM) may attenuate this effect. In a cross-sectional, self-reported survey, we investigated the effect of racialized traumatic media exposure (rate of exposure) on mental health (anger, anxiety, and depression) and past 30-day AU for Black young adults (n = 167; 46.9% women). We also assessed whether participants’ Race-Based Traumatic Stress (RBTS) symptoms and support for BLM moderated the effects. Racialized traumatic media exposure related to higher depression and anxiety, but only for those with low (1 SD below the mean) BLM support; and predicted higher likelihood of AU for participants with high RBTS. These findings suggest that while racialized traumatic media can negatively impact mental health and alcohol use, support and involvement in BLM may buffer these effects.

Keywords

mental health alcohol use traumatic media race-based traumatic stress

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