The overall objective of the proposed K23 is to support Dr. Donte Bernard in acquiring the skills necessary to
become an independent health disparities investigator with a program of research focused on the explication
and reduction of the mental health sequelae associated with racism-related trauma among Black youth. Racism-
related trauma represents a significant public health concern that is ubiquitous in the lives of Black youth. Yet,
there is a lack of research that has disentangled the unique effects of racism-related trauma relative to other
traumatic experiences. Moreover, a gap remains in the identification of culturally relevant constructs that may
underlie the link between racism-related trauma and negative mental health outcomes and may serve as
malleable targets for interventions to promote resiliency in the aftermath of racism-related events. The need for
this high impact research—and, as such, highly trained clinical scientists to lead this research—is significant and
consistent with NIMHD priorities to scientifically understand the causes of health disparity in order to improve
the lives of racial and ethnic minority communities. The proposed K23 directly addresses these limitations
through a promising candidate (with a strong foundation in racial discrimination research but need for additional
training), a comprehensive Training Plan that is supported by a team of highly successful mentors and renowned
research environment, and novel, mixed methods research, leveraging an active NIMH R01-funded longitudinal
study on child victimization and mental health, to better understand (a) experiences and responses to race-
related trauma (via qualitative methods); (b) the unique effect of racism-related trauma—above and beyond other
psychosocial traumatic events—on internalizing and externalizing mental health sequalae; and (c) how racism-
related vigilance and racial identity influence the relationship between racism-related trauma and mental health
outcomes cross sectionally and over time. Findings from these primary study aims will inform a preliminary
outline for a treatment to promote mental health resiliency in the aftermath of racism-related trauma (Exploratory
Aim). On-site mentors (Drs. Danielson, Hughes-Halbert, Moreland, and Mueller) have extensive knowledge in
child traumatic stress research, including racism-related trauma, longitudinal and mixed-methods approaches,
and intervention development and evaluation. An off-site mentor (Dr. Joe at Washington University in St. Louis)
will provide additional guidance in race-related mechanisms and examinations of externalizing mental health in
relation to racism-related experiences. The mentorship, coursework, seminars, workshops, and national
conference attendance afforded by the K23 will ensure that the candidate achieves numerous training goals,
such as enhancing knowledge of racism-related trauma; developing expertise in race-related mechanisms that
may undergird the relationship between racism-related trauma and mental health; and developing competence
in qualitative and mixed methods. The K23 activities will prepare Dr. Bernard to lead a program of high impact,
rigorously designed mental health disparities research focusing on racism-related trauma among Black youth.
