(PS8-71) Experiences of Discrimination, COVID-19 Stress, and Racial Trauma in College Students

Extant literature has shown the devastating effects of repeated exposure to racially discriminatory events on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC; Nadal et al., 2019; Paradies et al., 2015; Torres & Taknint, 2015). Experiences of racism and discrimination can have a traumatizing impact, leading to the development of a psychological injury, known as racial trauma (Comas-Díaz et al., 2019; Williams et al., 2021). Research suggests that racial trauma can sensitize individuals to future stressors, which may place marginalized populations at risk of developing adverse mental health outcomes. While the racial trauma literature is expanding, few studies have examined racial trauma in specific contexts of inequity in communities of color, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic (Liu & Modir, 2020). During the pandemic, communities of color have disproportionately faced financial and job losses, less access to COVID-19 testing and treatment, a higher risk of infection and mortality rates, and disease-related xenophobia (Liu & Modir, 2020; Taylor et al., 2020). The current study aimed to examine experiences of discrimination, COVID-19 stress, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress and racial trauma in a sample of 226 BIPOC and multiracial undergraduate students at a large Midwestern University. Results revealed a positive relationship between the frequency of experiences of discrimination, distress caused by experiences of discrimination, racial trauma symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and COVID-19 stress (p < .001, r ranging from .512 - .868). Path analyses are planned to examine the moderating role that COVID-19 stress may have on the relation between the frequency of, and distress caused by, experiences of discrimination and racial trauma symptoms, as well as posttraumatic stress symptoms. Implications of study findings and future empirical directions will be discussed.