Racism has been linked to the development or worsening of mental health disorders. When posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms occur due to experiences of racism, it may be referred to as race-based traumatic stress or racial trauma. More work is needed to quantify the distress experienced by those affected. The present study aimed to assess the validity of the Racial Trauma Scale (RTS), a new clinical tool for the measurement of trauma-related symptoms arising from race-based maltreatment of people of color (POC). Using CloudResearch (formerly Amazon Mechanical TurkPrime), 941 diverse participants across the United States were included in the study-POC (n = 665) and non-Hispanic White participants (n = 276). The results validated a three-factor structure, with 10 items on each component, for a total of 30 items. The three components can be described as Lack of Safety, Negative Cognitions, and Difficulty Coping. Reliability of the RTS and the three subscales were excellent, and the RTS scale was positively correlated with other measures of mental health and trauma. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in RTS scores between POC and non-Hispanic White participants. Based on these findings, the RTS appears to be a valid means of quantifying racial trauma symptoms in POC. The ultimate goal of the RTS is to identify racial trauma to improve the mental health of marginalized racial/ethnic groups. The RTS can be used in clinical or research settings to ascertain racial trauma in clients and inform treatment.
Andersen et al. (2021) published an article in this journal entitled "Racial Bias and Lethal Force Errors Among Canadian Police Officers," exploring the possible relationship between lethal force errors on a simulated police recertification shooting test, stress physiology, and suspect race (Black vs. White). Finding no association between Black-White Implicit Association Test (BW-IAT) scores and shooting errors in the test, they erroneously concluded that the BW-IAT lacks validity as a screening tool to assess racially biased use of force and thereby is not useful. This article reviews the methodological problems, biased assumptions, and errors in logic made by the authors, and discusses an informed approach to understanding racial bias and police violence. It also makes a call-to-action for antiracism approaches in academic publishing.
Public Significance StatementThe Implicit Associations Test (IAT) has been used to identify implicit racial bias, and there have been some calls to use this tool as part of law enforcement screening and training to help reduce police violence against people of color. This article explicates conceptual and methodological flaws in a recent study that erroneously concluded the Black-White IAT was not an adequate predictor of police officer bias.
Objective eHealth interventions are being developed to meet the needs of diverse populations. Despite these advancements, little is known about how these interventions are used to improve the health of persons experiencing homelessness. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the feasibility, effectiveness, and experience of eHealth interventions for the homeless population. Methods Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar was conducted along with forward and backward citation searching to identify relevant articles. Results Eight articles met eligibility criteria. All articles were pilot or feasibility studies that used modalities, including short message service, mobile apps, computers, email, and websites, to deliver the interventions. The accessibility, flexibility, and convenience of the interventions were valued by participants. However, phone retention, limited adaptability, a high level of human involvement, and preference for in-person communication may pose future implementation challenges. Conclusions eHealth interventions are promising digital tools that have the potential to improve access to care and service delivery. eHealth interventions are feasible and usable for persons experiencing homelessness. These interventions may have health benefits by augmenting existing services and if implementation challenges are addressed. Further evaluation of the effectiveness of eHealth interventions is needed before widespread implementation. Those with lived experience should also be engaged in developing and evaluating these interventions.
Black Canadians and Americans experience disparities in access to quality mental health care and mental health overall. Implicit biases are unconscious, automatically activated attitudes and stereotypes, with the potential to yield racist behaviors. To date, research has focused on health provider bias and resultant consequences in the decision-making/treatment of racialized groups. Little has been done to characterize implicit anti-Black biases within White and non-White members of the general population or examine the relationship between biases and Black people's mental wellness. Black-White Implicit Association Test (BW-IAT; n = 450,185) data were used to detect the presence of implicit biases within 10 ethnoracial groups and compare Bias Scores between Canada and the United States. Mean BW-IAT Bias Scores were also assessed against participant explicit biases using warmth ratings and the Modern Racism Scale (MRS). Finally, state-level BW-IAT scores were used to predict state-based Black American mental health-related mortality using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) data set. Findings indicated: (a) the most ethnoracial groups have anti-Black implicit biases; (b) Canadian and American implicit biases are near identical; (c) explicit and implicit Bias Scores are weakly related, and Canadian and American explicit biases are near identical; and (d) implicit bias predicts poor mental health outcomes for Black Americans, even when controlling for explicit bias and White outcomes. This work underscores the need to dismantle ideologies of White superiority and the resultant oppressive attitudes, stereotypes, and behaviors present in the general population. This work also calls for accessible, province-level, race-based mental health data on underserved groups.
Public Significance StatementTo date, few researchers have explored the impact of implicit biases on the health of people of color outside of a medical setting. Fewer still have considered the relationship between implicit biases held by the general population, both White and non-White, and Black peoples' mental health. This study is among the first to focus on the measurable existence of implicit racial biases within ethnoracial groups toward Black persons in the United States and Canada, as well as the possible impacts of implicit biases on the mental health of Black people in America.
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