For black teens, online racial discrimination tied to PTSD symptoms

For Black adolescents, individual online racial discrimination is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and these symptoms are associated with suicidal ideation, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Brendesha M. Tynes, Ph.D., from the Center for Empowered Learning and Development With Technology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study using data drawn from the first wave of the National Survey of Critical Digital Literacy to examine the associations between online racial discrimination and suicidal ideation through posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among Black adolescents. The analysis included 525 participants, with a mean age of 14.8 years.

The researchers found that individual online racial discrimination was associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (β = 0.49) based on a structural equation modeling analysis, and there was an association observed for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms with suicidal ideation (β = 0.51). Posttraumatic stress disorder was a full mediator between online racial discrimination and suicide (β = 0.25). There were no differences noted by age or gender. No significant direct association was identified between online racial discrimination and suicidal ideation.

"Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the discrimination-suicidal ideation relationship in online settings," the authors write.

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