(PS4-C71) The Forgotten Population: Racial Trauma in Black Germans

Friday, November 18, 2022

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM EST

Location: Westside Ballroom, 5th Floor

Author(s)

MM

Marie-Paule M. MacIntyre, B.A.

Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Co-Author(s)

MO

Muna Osman, Ph.D.

PhD
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
AK

Aidan J. Kaplan, B.A.

Undergraduate Student
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Monnica T. Williams, ABPP, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair
University of Ottawa
Tolland, Connecticut

Despite the well-documented impact of racism in the Western world, there has yet to be a study that examines the experiences of racism among Black Germans. Racism has been linked to poor mental health, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When post-traumatic symptoms arise from experiences of racism and discrimination, this can be conceptualized as racial trauma. The present study examines the lived experience of racism of Black Germans. Amazon Turk Prime (Cloud Research) was used to recruit 60 Black Germans participants (M = 39 years old; 46.7% female) living in Germany. The data collection is ongoing. The majority lived in Berlin (25%), North Rhine-Westphalia (21.7%), and Baden-Württemberg (20%). As expected, all participants reported experiencing at least one event of both recent (M = 52.6, SD = 26.944) and lifetime racial discrimnation (M = 51.5; SD = 27.560), which is similar to the experiences of Black Americans and Canadians. Also, 90% appraised these events as stressful with approximately half of the participants reported these as moderately to severely stressful. Findings revealed that for past-week anxiety symptoms, 68.3% met the criteria for mild (N = 15), moderate (N = 6), or severe (N = 22) anxiety. A regression analysis found lifetime racial discrimination significantly predicted anxiety symptoms (F(1, 58) = 70.392, p</span> < .001), with an R2 of .548. Likewise, stress due to racial discrimination significantly predicted anxiety symptoms (F(1, 58) = 55.946, p < .001; R2 = .491). Overall, this study is the first to examine experiences of racism among Black Germans and the impacts on their mental health. This study highlights the need for more research on Black people across Europe to inform policies to combat racism and provide equitable care for Black Europeans.