Cultural Trauma Scale: Psychometric evaluation of Black men's beliefs, emotions, and coping.

Abstract

Racism and gender-based prejudice produce a synergistic and toxic effect that necessitates analysis. There is a need to conduct more research with Black men as their experiences with race-based trauma may differ, given their concurrent disproportionate exposure to other forms of violence.

Objective: The study's purpose was to develop items for and evaluate the factor structure and internal consistency of the Cultural Trauma Scale (CuTS) in an exclusive sample of Black men.

Method: Using the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Community Alliance for Research Engagement principles, the study was conducted in a context of community-engaged research. Data were collected from individual interviews and focus groups, subject matter experts, and a sample of 150 adult Black men. Principal axis factoring (PAF) was used to determine the factor structure of the scale items.

Results: Via PAF the final factor structure included five constructs addressing: American and its justice system: cognitive-emotional responses (Cronbach's α = .88), cognitive-behavioral coping (Cronbach's α = .77), willingness to seek cultural trauma treatment (Cronbach's α = .88), tripartite police fear (Cronbach's α = .81), and resilience (Cronbach's α = .61).

Conclusions: The CuTS represents psychometric advancement in the measurement of Black male social justice and healing from cultural trauma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).