“These Experiences Kill You Emotionally”: Examining How Black Emerging Adults Construct Meaning of Race-Based Traumatic Stress

Kaleea R. Lewis, Kymbriona Taylor, Tiara Watson, Jason L. Cummings, Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Missouri , Department of Educational, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri- Columbia, Mo Usa, Counseling and Psychology Services , Student Health and Wellbeing, University of South Carolina, Sc Usa, Department of Sociology, Loyola University Chicago

Emerging Adulthood

Published online on February 18, 2026

Abstract

Emerging Adulthood, Volume 14, Issue 3, Page 587-604, June 2026.
Race-based traumatic stress (RBTS) refers to the emotional and/or physiological responses associated with a racist or racially discriminatory occurrence experienced as traumatic, injurious, and/or emotionally painful. Race-based traumatic stress is ...