Social maltreatment as trauma: Posttraumatic correlates of a new measure of exposure to sexism, racism, and cisheterosexism.

Abstract

Objective: Maltreatment based on race, sex, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+) status is a significant life stressor, potentially independent of whether it can be categorized as a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) trauma. Yet there is a relative lack of research systematically examining these events, their intersectionality, and links to posttraumatic stress (PTS). The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive measure of social discrimination and maltreatment (SDM) and to examine whether these events can serve as potential traumatic stressors, above-and-beyond classic trauma exposure.

Method: A 36-item Social Discrimination and Maltreatment Scale (SDMS), consisting of three subscales (sexism, racism, and cisheterosexism) and a total score, was developed and validated in a sample of 528 adults.

Results: The SDMS and its subscales were internally consistent (αs from .95 to .97) and demonstrated factorial validity in two subsamples (ns = 265 and 263). Marginalized groups each endorsed the most relevant SDMS subscale (e.g., people of color reporting more racism and women reporting more sexism). The total SDM score was associated with PTS even when controlling for general trauma exposure, and there was a linear relationship between the number of elevated SDMS subscales and PTS scores.

Conclusions: Although not considered traumatic in the DSM-5-TR, exposure to sexism, racism, and cisheterosexism may be significant sources of PTS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).