Racial trauma and substance use behaviors in Black Americans

Substance misuse frequently serves as a primary coping mechanism in response to trauma. Because Black Adults disproportionately experience greater rates of trauma exposure than White adults, it is essential to determine buffers against racial trauma and subsequent substance use consequences. Previous literature has linked discrimination, a core contributing factor to racial trauma to substance misuse. The study aimed to determine the relationship between racial trauma and substance misuse among Black Americans and other potential moderating factors. Black Americans from across the U.S. (n = 327, M_age = 39.20, SD_age = 12.01) were recruited via Prolific to answer an online survey through Qualtrics. Linear regression analyses showed that racial trauma was positively associated with Alcohol Use Disorder. Denial coping was found to be a statistically significant moderator of this relationship. However, analyses did not find a significant relationship between racial trauma and drug use disorders. The absence of an association underscores the need for future research to examine factors that may reveal or clarify this potential relationship.