Cited by 210Racial and Ethnic Identity ResearchChild Abuse and TraumaCounseling Practices and Supervision

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Addressing the “Myth” of Racial Trauma: Developmental and Ecological Considerations for Youth of Color

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Saleem, Farzana T., Anderson, Riana E., Williams, Monnica·2020·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review

DOI 10.1007/s10567-019-00304-1PMC PMC8845073

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Abstract

Trauma is prevalent among children and adolescents, with youth of color generally reporting greater exposure compared to White youth. One factor that may account for this difference is racial stress, which can manifest into trauma symptoms. Although racial stress and trauma (RST) significantly impacts youth of color, most of the research to date has focused on adult populations. In addition, little attention has been given to the impact of the ecological context in how youth encounter and cope with RST. As such, we propose the Developmental and Ecological Model of Youth Racial Trauma (DEMYth-RT), a conceptual model of how racial stressors manifest to influence the trauma symptomatology of children and adolescents of color. Within developmental periods, we explore how individual, family, and community processes influence youth's symptoms and coping. We also discuss challenges to identifying racial trauma in young populations according to clinician limitations and the post-traumatic stress disorder framework within the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5). The article concludes with implications on applying DEMYth-RT in clinical and research settings to address RST for youth of color.

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Influential
Clinical Framework for Dismantling Antiblack Racism in the Clinic Room
Herbst, R. B., Corley, A. M. S., & McTate, E. (2023) · Clinical Pediatrics · doi:10.1177/00099228231156009 · Cited by 12
Racism as a social determinant of health: Link to school‐related psychosocial stressors in a population‐based sample of African adolescents in Canada
Okoye, H. U., Ojukwu, E. N., Villalobos, M. C., & Saewyc, E. (2023) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1111/jan.15673 · Cited by 15
Deciphering Truth: Teaching About the Systemic Nature of Trauma
Goldin, S., Khasnabis, D., Duane, A. M., & Robertson, K. (2023) · Urban Education · doi:10.1177/00420859231175678 · Cited by 15
“It can stem from systemic factors such as racism (Carter & Pieterse, 2020; Saleem et al., 2020), microaggres-sions (Nadal, 2018), homophobia (McCormack, 2020), and institutional betrayal (Lind et al., 2020).”
Childhood attachment security mediates the effect of childhood maltreatment chronicity on emotion regulation patterns in emerging adulthood
Warmingham, J. M., Russotti, J. M., Handley, E. D., Toth, S. L., & Cicchetti, D. (2023) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2023.2234891 · Cited by 11
“and stress related to racial discrimination in addition to the maltreatment and povertyrelated stress assessed as part of the study design (Metzger et al., 2018; Saleem et al., 2020).”
Method
The promotive and protective effects of parents’ perceived changes during the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional well-being among U.S. households with young children: an investigation of family resilience processes
Liu, S., Curenton, S. M., Sims, J., & Fisher, P. A. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1270514 · Cited by 12
“Persistent, recurrent, and cumulative exposures of racism and discrimination constitute traumatic experiences (Chin et al., 2020; Saleem et al., 2020), and Black and Latino(a) parents have long had to persevere through these traumatic experiences and continue supporting their families and young…”
Background
An Initial Development and Evaluation of a Culturally Responsive Police Interactions Training for Black Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Davenport, M. A., Romero, M. E., Lewis, C. D., Lawson, T., Ferguson, B., Stichter, J., & Kahng, S. (2023) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-021-05181-8 · Cited by 11
Attachment-Informed Design: Digital Interventions That Build Self-Worth, Relationships, and Community in Support of Mental Health
Marcu, G., & Huh-Yoo, J. (2023) · Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3563657.3596009 · Cited by 11
“During this process, we explored existing frameworks focused on youth and trauma as well as relevant community-based technological design, such as resilience [117], racial trauma [103], critical race theory [64, 91], Black feminist thought [35, 98], social-ecological model [59, 82, 112], trauma-informed design [20, 77…”
Method
Palestinian children living amidst political and military violence deploy active protection strategies against psychological trauma: How agency can mitigate traumatic stress via life satisfaction
Veronese, G., Cavazzoni, F., Jaradah, A., Yaghi, S., Obaid, H., & Kittaneh, H. (2021) · Journal of Child Health Care · doi:10.1177/13674935211017727 · Cited by 10
Perceived Coping Mitigates Anxiety Symptoms in the Context of COVID-19 Stress in an Urban University Student Sample
Rudenstine, S., Schulder, T., Ettman, C. K., & Galea, S. (2022) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/00332941221074038 · Cited by 10
“Potentially traumatic events (PTEs) that are ongoing versus isolated incidents, arecharacterized by the occurrence of chronic stressors (Bromet, 2014; Cerdá et al., 2013; Hammen et al., 2009; Kopp et al., 2007; Lowe et al., 2016; Saleem et al., 2020).”
Background
Polyvictimization and Psychosocial Outcomes Among Trauma-Exposed, Clinic-Referred Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System
Seifert, H. T. P., Tunno, A. M., Briggs, E. C., Hill, S., Grasso, D. J., Adams, Z. W., & Ford, J. D. (2021) · Child Maltreatment · doi:10.1177/10775595211025096 · Cited by 10
Black Lives and Black Research Matter: How our Collective Emotions Continue to Drive a Movement
Dunbar, A. S. (2022) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12739 · Cited by 10
“But I Live Here Too”: Social‐structural stressors, racial discrimination, and resiliency among urban dwelling black emerging adult men
Taggart, T., Sawyer, S., Andreou, A., Kershaw, T., & Milburn, N. G. (2023) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/ajcp.12667 · Cited by 14
“It’s Not a System of Care”: Black Youth’s Stories of Family Separation and Anti-Black Racism in Ontario’s Child Welfare System
Edwards, T., Clarke, M. K., & Laylor, A. (2023) · Journal of Black Studies · doi:10.1177/00219347231220677 · Cited by 9
“This denial leaves Black youth increasingly vulnerable to racial stress that can manifest through an array of trauma symptoms, including decreased cultural pride (Saleem et al., 2020).”
Background
BIPOC Experiences of Racial Trauma on TikTok: A Qualitative Content Analysis
Hung, Y., Miles, A., Trevino, Z. R., D’Aniello, C., Wood, H., Bishop, A., & Monshad, Z. (2023) · Contemporary Family Therapy · doi:10.1007/s10591-023-09669-6 · Cited by 13
“BIPOC children and adolescents have unique response to racial discrimination (Saleem et al., 2019).”
Background
Intersectionality and school racial climate to create schools as sites of fairness and liberation for Black girls
Griffin, C. B., Harris, J. N., & Proctor, S. L. (2024) · Journal of School Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2024.101282 · Cited by 11
Racism-related experiences and substance use: A systematic and meta-analytic review
Ebrahimi, C. T., Song, H., Machado, M., Segura, P., Espinosa, A., & Polanco-Roman, L. A. (2024) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117434 · Cited by 9
To Whom Do These Results Apply? Assessing Evidence for the Generalizability of Social and Emotional Learning Programs Among Specific Racial and Ethnic Groups
Jones, T. M., Kim, B. E., Fleming, C. B., Deng, J., Duane, A. M., Gavin, A. R., & Shapiro, V. B. (2025) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543241310184 · Cited by 10
“…treatment of REM individuals results in social and material consequences; it characterizes a pervasive shared experience, and thus, categorizations of race can be useful in codifying systemic outcomes across different groups (Saleem et al., 2020; Smedley & Smedley, 2005; Tam et al., 2023).”
Increasing Readiness for Cultural Responsiveness and Trauma-Informed Practice
Knox, J. L., Alvarez, A. J., Golden, A. R., & Hope, E. C. (2023) · Advances in early childhood and K-12 education · doi:10.4018/978-1-6684-5713-9.ch010 · Cited by 8
Interventions for Students Exposed to Trauma
Chafouleas, S. M., Saleem, F. T., Overstreet, S., & Thorne, T. (2023) · Issues in clinical child psychology · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20006-9_6 · Cited by 8
Self-citation
Racial climate reform in independent schools: How coping self‐efficacy buffers systemic and proximal racial stress for students of color
Collins, J. A., & Stevenson, H. C. (2023) · Psychology in the Schools · doi:10.1002/pits.22993 · Cited by 12
The Impact of Racial Trauma: A Crucial Conversation in Rural Education
Grimes, T. O., & Roosma, S. K. (2022) · The rural educator · doi:10.55533/2643-9662.1327 · Cited by 8
Accounting for Traumatic Historical Events in Educational Randomized Controlled Trials
Herman, K. C., Dong, N., Reinke, W. M., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2022) · School Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/2372966x.2021.2024768 · Cited by 8
“For instance, the majority of students in the schools were Black and thus may have been particularly affected by the event (Saleem et al., 2020).”
BackgroundInfluential
TRANSFORMing theory to practice: Developing and implementing an anti-racist, community-based racial stress and trauma group intervention for BIPOC youth
Johnson, W.-F. K. L., Saleem, F. T., Sanders, E. A., & Langley, A. K. (2024) · Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community · doi:10.1080/10852352.2024.2408503 · Cited by 8
“…negative consequences on mental and physical health, as experiences with RST can overwhelm youth’s coping capacity, impede daily life functioning, and lead to negative consequences across development and into adulthood (Carter, 2007; Williams et al., 2019; Saleem & Byrd, 2021; Saleem et al., 2020).”
Self-citation
Applying Trauma- and Violence-Informed Care to Speech-Language Pathology Practice Across the Lifespan
Wiseman‐Hakes, C., Albin, M., Rupert, A., & Phoenix, M. P. (2025) · Topics in Language Disorders · doi:10.1097/tld.0000000000000358 · Cited by 7
“Racial trauma includes both collective and individual injuries from racial discrimination and race-based stress, which can occur both systematically and through daily encounters of microaggressions (Saleem et al., 2020).”
Psychosociocultural Contributors to Maladaptive Eating Behaviors in African American Youth: Recommendations and Future Directions
Hampton-Anderson, J. N., & Craighead, L. W. (2020) · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · doi:10.1177/1559827620936951 · Cited by 9
Social Support Is Protective Against the Effects of Discrimination on Parental Mental Health Outcomes
Alvarez, D., Adynski, H., Harris, R., Zou, B., Taylor, J. Y., & Junior, H. P. D. O. S. (2024) · Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association · doi:10.1177/10783903241243092 · Cited by 7
“These experiences can have far-reaching consequences not only for mothers but for their children (Heard-Garris et al., 2018; Iruka et al., 2022; Saleem et al., 2020).”
Common Elements of Trauma-Informed Schools and Attention to Racial Equity: A Scoping Review
Onipede, Z. A., Park, A. L., & Lau, A. S. (2024) · School Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s12310-024-09721-2 · Cited by 6
“Emergent research recognizes these experiences as racial trauma (Anderson & Stevens, 2019; Henderson et al., 2019; Saleem et al., 2020).”
Differential associations between race‐based traumatic stress and major, everyday, and vicarious racial discrimination among young adults of color
Woolverton, G. A., Yip, T., Rastogi, R., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2025) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.23130 · Cited by 7
Developmental psychopathology
Barry, K. R., & Bick, J. R. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-96023-6.00073-7 · Cited by 7
Initial Development and Psychometric Properties of the Youth Racism-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale
Galán, C. A., Willis, H. A., Polanco-Roman, L. A., Howard, L. Y., Morales, I., Rudrabhatla, A., Santana, A. M., & Satinsky, E. N. (2025) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2025.2497085 · Cited by 5
“…study presents new opportunities to investigate the effects of racism on ethnoracially minoritized youth from a traumatic stress perspective and is a critical step toward expanding on theoretical models of youth racial trauma (e.g., Bernard et al., 2021; Galán et al., 2022; Saleem et al., 2020).”
Influential
Resilience: Within-Group Variations in the Impact of Racial Discrimination on Black Youth's Mental Health
Elisha, I. M., & Collins, R.-N. (2022) · Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1177/23727322211068015 · Cited by 8
“For Black youth, experiences with and exposure to anti-Black racial discrimination are common forms of trauma that amplify inequity in their developmental outcomes (Saleem et al., 2019; Williams, 2018).”
Background
The Association Between an Equitable School Climate and Students’ Psychosocial Outcomes: The Moderating Roles of Race and Gender
Braun, S. S., Rodgers, C. R. R., Linsky, A. C. V., Griffin, C. B., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2023) · School Psychology Review · doi:10.1080/2372966x.2023.2192174 · Cited by 7
“In fact, research suggests that stress from racial discrimination at school can impact both mental and physical well-being for students of color (e.g., Saleem et al., 2020).”
Microaggressions as a Framework for Understanding Women’s STEM Career Experiences in Lebanon
Makarem, Y., & Metcalfe, B. D. (2023) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-023-01396-4 · Cited by 5
“Some scholars have responded to these critiques with detailed rebuttals (e.g. Rini, 2018; Saleem et al., 2020; Williams, 2020), but for the purposes of this article, the counterarguments will be briefly summarized.”
Background
Conducting Ethical, Antiracist Mental Health Research with Children and Adolescents
Ceballos, P. L., Taylor, L., & Turner, K. K. (2023) · Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling · doi:10.1080/23727810.2023.2233271 · Cited by 5
“, 2018) increases their experience of trauma and the detrimental effects on their mental health (Saleem et al., 2020).”
Background
Achieving Equity in Child and Adolescent Mental Health by Addressing Racism Through Prevention Science
Goodrum, N. M., Cooper, D. K., Edmunds, S. R., Wippold, G. M., Bradshaw, J. L., Nguyen, J. K., Milburn, N. G., & Are, F. G. (2023) · Adversity and Resilience Science · doi:10.1007/s42844-023-00104-1 · Cited by 9
“…mental health-related risk for children and families, such as the effects of chronic stress due to racial trauma and interpersonal discrimination (Saleem et al., 2020), consequences of educational inequality on academic outcomes and mental health (Fadus et al., 2021), and inequities in juvenile…”
Patterns of Familial and Racial Trauma and Their Associations with Substance Use Disorders among Racial/Ethnic Minority Adults
Park, D., Lee, E., Yang, S., & Ware, O. D. (2023) · Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · doi:10.1007/s40615-023-01812-1 · Cited by 6
Start Early: Providing Trauma-Informed, Systems-Focused Professional Development in Early Childhood Development and Learning Contexts
Price, D., Robinson, Y., Riley, H. O., Ribaudo, J., Giang, C. W., Herrenkohl, T. I., & Miller, A. L. (2023) · OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2304055 · Cited by 5

Authors: Saleem, F. T., Anderson, R. E., & Williams, M.
Affiliations: University of California, Los Angeles (US)
University of Michigan (US)
University of Ottawa (CA)
Corresponding author: Saleem, Farzana T.
ORCID: Saleem, Farzana T.
Anderson, Riana E.
Williams, Monnica
Venue: Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2019-10-23
Volume: 23
Issue: 1
Pages: 1-14
ISSN: 1096-4037 (ISSN-L)
1573-2827
DOI: 10.1007/s10567-019-00304-1
PMC: PMC8845073
OpenAlex: W2982208430
Cited by: 210
References: 157
Citations by year: 2026: 19 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2
FWCI: 4.98
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
www.springer.com/tdm (vor)
Locations: Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: National Institute on Aging (P30AG015281)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
Keywords: racial trauma, racial stress, youth of color, children and adolescents, trauma symptoms, coping, family and community context, post-traumatic stress disorder, DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, conceptual model
MeSH terms: Psychological Trauma, Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Child, Humans, Models, Psychological, Stress, Psychological, Racism

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Addressing the “Myth” of Racial Trauma: Developmental and Ecological Considerations for Youth of Color

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