Racial trauma symptoms and suicidal ideation among minoritized US college students: Exploring the moderating role of...

Racial trauma is a growing mental health concern among ethnoracially minoritized college students. Limited research has examined campus-level promotive factors that may mitigate suicidal ideation (SI) in this population. This study explored whether student perceptions of antiracist campus climate and campus involvement in cultural/racial student organizations moderated the relationship between racial trauma symptoms and SI.

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 23,414 ethnoracially minoritized students (ages 18-26) from 135 U.S. colleges using data from the 2022-2023 Healthy Minds Study. Multilevel logistic regression models assessed associations between racial trauma symptoms, campus-level promotive factors, and past-year SI, controlling for sociodemographic and institutional variables.

Higher racial trauma symptoms scores were significantly associated with greater odds of SI (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.09-1.12, p < 0.001). Students who perceived their campuses as actively combating racism (OR = 0.71, p < 0.001) or were involved in cultural/racial organizations (OR = 0.79, p < 0.01) were significantly less likely to report SI. However, these factors did not significantly moderate racial trauma and SI. Gender diverse students as well as students in Southern and East South-Central regions were noted to face higher SI risk.

Although antiracism climate and campus involvement did not buffer the psychological toll of racial trauma, they were associated with lower SI risk. Institutions should prioritize multilevel antiracism mental health promotion strategies to support these students.