We investigated the relations between gendered racial microaggressions (i.e., subtle gendered racism), gendered racial socialization, and traumatic stress symptoms among Black women. We hypothesized that gendered racial microaggressions would be significantly associated with traumatic stress symptoms and that gendered racial socialization would moderate the relations between gendered racial microaggressions and traumatic stress symptoms. Participants were 226 Black women from across the United States who completed an online survey. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that a greater frequency of gendered racial microaggressions was significantly associated with greater traumatic stress symptoms; internalized gendered racial oppression moderated the relations between gendered racial microaggressions and traumatic stress symptoms. The results of this study can inform future research on Black women’s experiences of gendered racism and the role of gendered racial socialization in their lives. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index
AbramsJ. A.MaxwellM.PopeM.BelgraveF. Z. (2014). Carrying the world with the grace of a lady and the grit of a warrior: Deepening our understanding of the “Strong Black Woman” schema. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38, 503–518. doi:10.1177/0361684314541418
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
3.
AndersenM. L.CollinsP. H. (2004). Race, class, and gender: An anthology (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson.
4.
AndrettaJ. R.WorrellF. C.RamirezA. M.BarnesM. E.OdomT.BrimS.WoodlandM. H. (2015). The effects of stigma priming on forensic screening in African American youth. The Counseling Psychologist, 43, 1162–1189. doi:10.1177/0011000015611963
5.
BarbarinO. A. (1983). Coping with ecological transitions by Black families: A psychosocial model. Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 308–322. doi:10.1002/1520-6629(198310)11:4<308::AID-JCOP2290110405>3.0.CO;2-Z
6.
BeadnellB.StielstraS.BakerS.MorrisonD. M.KnoxK.GutierrezL.DoyleA. (2003). Ethnic identity and sexual risk-taking among African-American women enrolled in an HIV/STD prevention intervention. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 8, 187–198. doi:10.1080/1354850031000087564
7.
BowmanP. J.HowardC. (1985). Race-related socialization, motivation, and academic achievement: A study of Black youths in three-generation families. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 134–141. doi:10.1016/S0002-7138(09)60438-6
8.
Bowman HeadsA. M.GloverA. M.CastilloL. G.BlozisS.KimS. Y. (2018). Dimensions of ethnic identity as protective factors for substance use and sexual risk behaviors in African American college students. Journal of American College Health, 66, 178–186. doi:10.1080/07448481.2017.1400975
9.
BrownD. L. (2008). African American resiliency: Examining racial socialization and social support as protective factors. Journal of Black Psychology, 34, 32–48. doi:10.1177/0095798407310538
10.
BrownD. L.BlackmonS.RosnickC. B.Griffin-FennellF. D.White-JohnsonR. L. (2017). Initial development of a gendered-racial socialization scale for African American college women. Sex Roles, 77, 178–193. doi:10.1007/s11199-016-0707-x
11.
BrownT. L.KrishnakumarA. (2007). Development and validation of the Adolescent Racial and Ethnic Socialization Scale (ARESS) in African American families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 1072–1085. doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9197-z
CalogeroR. M.JostJ. T. (2011). Self-subjugation among women: Exposure to sexist ideology, self-objectification, and the protective function of the need to avoid closure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition, 100, 211–228. doi:10.1037/a0021864
14.
CarlsonE. B. (1997). Trauma assessments: A clinician’s guide. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
15.
CarterR. T. (2007). Racism and psychological emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 13–105. doi:10.1177/0011000006292033
16.
CarterR. T.JohnsonV. E.MuchowC.LyonsJ.ForquerE.GalgayC. (2016). Development of classes of racism measures for frequency and stress reactions: Relationships to race-based traumatic symptoms. Traumatology, 22, 63–74. doi:10.1037/trm0000057
17.
CarterR. T.MuchowC.PieterseA. L. (2018). Construct, predictive validity, and measurement equivalence of the race-based traumatic stress symptom scale for black Americans. Traumatology, 24, 8–16. doi:10.1037/trm0000128
18.
ClarkR.BenkertR. A.FlackJ. M. (2006). Large arterial elasticity varies as a function of gender and racism-related vigilance in Black youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 562–569. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.02.012
19.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
20.
ColeE. R. (2009). Intersectionality and research in psychology. American Psychologist, 64, 170–180. doi:10.1037/a0014564
21.
Comas-DíazL.JacobsenF. M. (2001). Ethnocultural allodynia. The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 10, 246–252.
22.
ConstantineM. G. (2007). Racial microaggressions against African American clients in cross-racial counseling relationships. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 1–16. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.54.1.1
23.
CrenshawK. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989, 139–168. Retrieved fromhttps://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
24.
Edmondson BellE. L. J.NkomoS. N. (1998). Armoring: Learning to withstand racial oppression. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 29, 285–295.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.BuchnerA.LangA.-G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 1149–1160. doi:10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149
27.
FischerA. R.ShawC. M. (1999). African Americans’ mental health and perceptions of racist discrimination: The moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 395–407. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.46.3.395
28.
FordJ. D. (2008). Trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and ethnoracial minorities: Toward diversity and cultural competence in principles and practices. Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice, 15, 62–67. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2008.00110.x
29.
FriedrichR. J. (1982). In defense of multiplicative terms in multiple regression equations. American Journal of Political Science, 26, 797–833.
30.
GrahamJ. R.WestL. M.MartinezJ.RoemerL. (2013). The mediating role of internalized racism in the relationship between racist experiences and anxiety symptoms in a Black American sample. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22, 369–376. doi:10.1037/cdp0000073
31.
HairJ.BlackW. C.BabinB. J.AndersonR. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education International.
32.
HarringtonE. F.CrowtherJ. H.ShipherdJ. C. (2010). Trauma, binge eating, and the “Strong Black Woman.”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 469–479. doi:10.1037/a0019174
33.
Harris-BrittA.ValrieC. R.Kurtz-CostesB.RowleyS. J. (2007). Perceived racial discrimination and self-esteem in African American youth: Racial socialization as a protective factor. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 669–682. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2007.00540.x
34.
HinesP. M.Boyd-FranklinN. (1982). Black families. In McGoldrickM.PearceJ. K.GiordanoJ. (Eds.), Ethnicity & family therapy (pp. 84–107). New York, NY: Guilford.
35.
HughesD.ChenL. (1997). When and what parents tell children about race: An examination of race-related socialization among African American families. Applied Developmental Science, 1, 200–214. doi:10.1207/s1532480xads0104_4
36.
HughesD.RodriguezJ.SmithE. P.JohnsonD. J.StevensonH. C.SpicerP. (2006). Parents’ ethnic-racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology, 42, 747–770. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.747
37.
HughesD.WitherspoonD.Rivas-DrakeD.West-BeyN. (2009). Received ethnic–racial socialization messages and youths’ academic and behavioral outcomes: Examining the mediating role of ethnic identity and self-esteem. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15, 112–124. doi:10.1037/a0015509
38.
IBM Corp. (2017). IBM SPSS statistics for Macintosh. Version 25.0. Armonk, NY: Author.
39.
JonesC.Shorter-GoodenK. (2003). Shifting: The double lives of Black women in America. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
40.
KaneC. M. (2000). African American family dynamics as perceived by family members. Journal of Black Studies, 30, 691–702.
41.
KlonoffE. A.LandrineH. (1995). The schedule of sexist events: A measure of lifetime and recent sexist discrimination in women’s lives. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19, 439–470. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1995.tb00086.x
42.
LandrineH.KlonoffE. A. (1996). The schedule of racist events: A measure of racial discrimination and a study of its negative physical and mental health consequences. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 144–168. doi:10.1177/00957984960222002
43.
LandrineH.KlonoffE. A.GibbsJ.ManningV.LundM. (1995). Physical and psychiatric correlates of gender discrimination: An application of the schedule of sexist events. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19, 473–492. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1995.tb00087.x
44.
LandryL. J.MercurioA. E. (2009). Discrimination and women’s mental health: The mediating role of control. Sex Roles, 61, 192–203. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9624-6
45.
LazarusR. S.FolkmanS. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York, NY: Springer.
46.
LewisJ. A.MendenhallR.HarwoodS.Browne HunttM. (2013). Coping with gendered racial microaggressions among Black women college students. Journal of African American Studies, 17, 51–73. doi:10.1007/s12111-012-9219-0
47.
LewisJ. A.MendenhallR.HarwoodS.Browne HunttM. (2016). “Ain’t I a Woman?”: Perceived gendered racial microaggressions experienced by Black women. The Counseling Psychologist, 44, 758–780. doi:10.1177/0011000016641193
48.
LewisJ. A.NevilleH. A. (2015). Construction and initial validation of the gendered racial microaggressions scale for black women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62, 289–302. doi:10.1037/cou0000062
49.
LewisJ. A.WilliamsM. G.PeppersE. J.GadsonC. A. (2017). Applying intersectionality to explore the relations between gendered racism and health among Black women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64, 475–486. doi:10.1037/cou0000231
50.
LittleR. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202. doi:10.2307/2290157
51.
LittleR. J. A.RubinD. B. (2002). Statistical analysis with missing data (2nd ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley.
52.
MarquardtD. W. (1970). Generalized inverses, ridge regression, biased linear estimation, and nonlinear estimation. Technometrics, 12, 591–612. doi:10.2307/1267205
53.
MarquardtD. W. (1980). You should standardize the predictor variables in your regression models. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 75, 87–91. doi:10.1080/01621459.1980.10477430
54.
MazzulaS. L.NadalK. L. (2015). Racial microaggressions, whiteness, and feminist therapy. Women & Therapy, 38, 308–326. doi:10.1080/02703149.2015.1059214
55.
McHaleS. M.CrouterA. C.KimJ.-Y.BurtonL. M.DavisK. D.DottererA. M.SwansonD. P. (2006). Mothers’ and fathers’ racial socialization in African American families: Implications for youth. Child Development, 5, 1387–1402. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00942.x
56.
McNairL. D. (1992). African American women in therapy: An Afrocentric and feminist synthesis. Women & Therapy, 12, 5–19. doi:10.1300/J015V12N01_02
57.
MoradiB.SubichL. M. (2003). A concomitant examination of the relations of perceived racist and sexist events to psychological distress for African American women. The Counseling Psychologist, 31, 451–469. doi:10.1177/0011000003031004007
58.
NadalK. L. (2018). Microaggressions and traumatic stress: Theory, research, and clinical treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
59.
NadalK. L.GriffinK. E.WongY.HamitS.RasmusM. (2014). The impact of racial microaggressions on mental health: Counseling implications for clients of color. Journal of Counseling & Development, 92, 57–66. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00130.x
60.
NorrisF. H. (1992). Epidemiology of trauma: Frequency and impact of different potentially traumatic events on different demographic groups. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 409. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.60.3.409
61.
OngA. D.BurrowA. L. (2017). Microaggressions and daily experience: Depicting life as it is lived. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 173–175.
62.
ParadiesY. (2006). A systematic review of empirical research on self-reported racism and health. International Journal of Epidemiology, 35, 888–901. doi:10.1093/ije/dyl056
63.
PascoeE. A.Smart RichmanL. (2009). Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 531–554. doi:10.1037/a0016059
64.
PetersM. F. (1985). Racial socialization of young Black children. In McAdooH.McAdooJ. (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational, and parental environments (pp. 159–173). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
65.
PieterseA. L.ToddN. R.NevilleH. A.CarterR. T. (2012). Perceived racism and mental health among Black American adults: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59, 1–9. doi:10.1037/a0026208
66.
ReynoldsJ. E.Gonzales-BackenM. A. (2017). Ethnic-racial socialization and the mental health of African Americans: A critical review. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 9, 182–200. doi:10.1111/jftr.12192
67.
ScottL. D.Jr. (2003). The relation of racial identity and racial socialization to coping with discrimination among African American adolescents. Journal of Black Studies, 33, 520–538. doi:10.1177/0021934702250035
68.
Shorter-GoodenK. (2004). Multiple resistance strategies: How African American women cope with racism and sexism. Journal of Black Psychology, 30, 406–425. doi:10.1177/0095798404266050
69.
Shorter-GoodenK.JacksonL. C. (2000). The interweaving of cultural and intrapsychic issues in the therapeutic relationship. In JacksonL. C.GreeneB. (Eds.), Psychotherapy with African American women: Innovations in psychodynamic perspectives (pp. 15–32). New York, NY: Guilford.
70.
SigurvinsdottirR.UllmanS. E. (2016). Sexual orientation, race, and trauma as predictors of sexual assault recovery. Journal of Family Violence, 31, 913–921. doi:10.1007/s10896-015-9793-8
71.
SlavinL. A.RainerK. L.McCrearyM. L.GowdaK. K. (1991). Toward a multicultural model of the stress process. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70, 156–163. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.1991.tb01578.x
72.
SpeightS. L. (2007). Internalized racism: One more piece of the puzzle. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 126134. doi:10/1177/0011000006295119
73.
SpencerM. B. (1983). Children’s cultural values and parental child rearing strategies. Developmental Review, 3, 351–370.
74.
StevensonH. C. (1994). Validation of the Scale of racial socialization for African American adolescents: Steps toward multidimensionality. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 445–468. doi:10.1177/00957984940204005
75.
StevensonH. C.RenardG. (1993). Trusting ole’ wise owls: Therapeutic use of cultural strengths in African-American families. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24, 433–442. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.24.4.433
76.
SueD. W.CapodilupoC. M.TorinoG. C.BucceriJ. M.HolderA. M. B.NadalK. L.EsquilinM. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62, 271–286. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.271
77.
SzymanskiD. M.LewisJ. A. (2016). Gendered racism, coping, identity centrality, and African American college women’s psychological distress. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40, 229–243. doi:10.1177/0361684315616113
78.
SzymanskiD. M.MeyerD. (2008). Racism and heterosexism as correlates of psychological distress in African American sexual minority women. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 2, 94–108. doi:10.1080/15538600802125423
79.
SzymanskiD. M.StewartD. N. (2010). Racism and sexism as correlates of African American women’s psychological distress. Sex Roles, 63, 226–238. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9788-0
80.
TaylorJ.JacksonB. B. (1991). Evaluation of a holistic model of mental health symptoms in African American women. Journal of Black Psychology, 18, 19–45.
81.
ThomasA. J.BlackmonS. M. (2015). The influence of the Trayvon Martin shooting on racial socialization practices of African American parents. The Journal of Black Psychology, 41, 75–89. doi:10.1177/0095798414563610
82.
ThomasA. J.KingC. T. (2007). Gendered racial socialization of African American mothers and daughters. The Family Journal, 15, 137–142. doi:10.1177/1066480706297853
83.
ThomasA. J.SpeightS. L. (1999). Racial identity and racial socialization attitudes of African American parents. Journal of Black Psychology, 25, 152–170. doi:10.1177/0095798499025002002
84.
ThomasA. J.WitherspoonK. M.SpeightS. L. (2008). Gendered racism, psychological distress, and coping styles of African American women. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14, 307–314. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.14.4.307
85.
TonerB.TangT.AliA.AkmanD.StucklessN.EsplenM. J.RossL. (2012). Developing a gender role socialization scale. In OliffeJ. L.GravesL. (Eds.), Designing and conducting gender, sex & health research (pp. 189–200). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
86.
TorresL.TaknintJ. T. (2015). Ethnic microaggressions, traumatic stress symptoms, and Latino depression: A moderated mediational model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62, 393. doi:10.1037/cou0000077
87.
UtseyS. O.AdamsE. P.BoldenM. (2000). Development and initial validation of the Africultural coping systems inventory. Journal of Black Psychology, 26, 194–215. doi:10.1177/0095798400026002005
88.
UtseyS. O.PonterottoJ. G.ReynoldsA. L.CancelliA. A. (2000). Racial discrimination, coping, life satisfaction, and self-esteem among African Americans. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78, 72–80. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb02562.x
89.
VelezB. L.MoradiB.DeBlaereC. (2015). Multiple oppressions and the mental health of sexual minority Latina/o individuals. The Counseling Psychologist, 43, 7–38. doi:10.1177/0011000014542836
90.
WatsonL. B.DeBlaereC.LangrehrK. J.ZelayaD. G.FloresM. J. (2016). The influence of multiple oppressions on women of color’s experiences with insidious trauma. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63, 656–667. doi:10.1037/cou0000165
91.
WatsonN. N.HunterC. D. (2015). “I had to be strong”: Tensions in the strong Black woman schema. Journal of Black Psychology, 42, 424–452. doi:10.1177/0095798415597093
92.
WeathersF. W.LitzB. T.KeaneT. M.PalmieriP. A.MarxB. P.SchnurrP. P. (2013). The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Scale available from the National Center for PTSD at www.ptsd.va.gov
93.
WilliamsT. M.TurkheimerE.MageeE.GuterbockT. (2008). The effects of race and racial priming on self-report of contamination anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 746–757. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.009
94.
Woods-GiscombéC. L. (2010). Superwoman schema: African American women’s views on stress, strength, and health. Qualitative Health Research, 20, 668–683. doi:10.1177/1049732310361892
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
