African Americans and Native Americans experience more psychological and behavioral health disparities when compared to European Americans. These disparities may be associated with disproportional exposures to stress and trauma due to the unique historical trauma these populations have suffered in the U.S. The intergenerational effects of stress and trauma on psychological and behavioral outcomes have been demonstrated in populations that have faced historical trauma (e.g., Holocaust survivors). The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the intergenerational effects of stress and trauma on the psychological and behavioral outcomes of African Americans and Native Americans in the U.S. PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for studies that met eligibility criteria. After duplicates were removed, 1,671 studies were screened, and seven studies were included in this review. Results provided some evidence for the adverse intergenerational effects of stress and trauma (e.g., adverse childhood experiences) on the psychological and behavioral outcomes (e.g., substance use) of African Americans and Native Americans in the U.S. Nonetheless, the findings of this review precluded robust conclusions about this relation due to the current lack of rigorous studies addressing this topic in the literature. This review demonstrated the need for a cohesive body of literature that rigorously examines the intergenerational effects of stress and trauma on the psychological and behavioral outcomes of African Americans and Native Americans in the U.S. from which to draw strong conclusions and generate recommendations.

Across a correlational study and two experiments, this dissertation examined the link between media exposure to interpersonal violence and mental health, as well as the role of social (racial) identity in this link. In Chapter 2, observational data from a nationally representative U.S. sample were used to investigate correlates of watching videos of Black victims of violence, the association between frequent watching and mental health outcomes, and whether race (Black vs. non-Black) moderated this association. Results showed that (a) Black participants watched videos of Black victims of violence more frequently than non-Black participants, (b) more frequent watching was associated with greater video-specific distress, global distress, and functional impairment, and (c) more frequent watching was prospectively associated with greater stress about police violence against Black people 18 months later for Black, but not non-Black, participants. In Chapter 3, two experiments were conducted to assess the psychological impact of exposure to images of interpersonal violence and the roles of victim race, violence type (i.e., police vs. non-police [civilian] perpetrator), perpetrator race, and the viewer’s own race in these responses. Results in Experiment 1 indicated that both Black and White individuals’ negative affect and image-related distress were increased by exposure to images of Black victims (vs. White victims) of violence. Also, those who were more distressed by the images in the experiment reported more worry about and perceived risk of future violence one week later. Findings in Experiment 2 showed that Black individuals’ emotional responses to images of Black victims of violence depended on whether the perpetrator was a police officer (vs. civilian) and the perpetrator’s race (Black vs. White). Taken together, the results of this dissertation suggest that media exposure to Black victims of violence is associated with adverse mental health outcomes, both in the shorter and longer term. Black viewers of this media may be especially susceptible to these worse outcomes, likely due to sharing a social (racial) identity with the victims in the incidents. The implications of these findings for both individuals and media organizations are discussed.