Traumatic stress, social support, cognitive appraisal, and resiliency among Black women experiencing gun violence loss

Death by gun violence has reached disproportionately high levels among Black youth ages 14–19 within the United States and Canada. While much attention has been granted to both the perpetrators and victims of these crimes, less attention has been given to the ways in which these experiences impact on the psychological wellbeing of the victims’ family, in particular, Black mothers. The study is guided by the stress process framework developed by Pearlin, which provides a general understanding of how stress exposure influences health and wellbeing. Using a cross-sectional design, this study examined the association between traumatic stress and resilience and the mediating effects of social support, cognitive appraisal, and quality health care among 48 Black mothers living in a metropolitan area in Canada who lost children through gun violence. Pearson correlation and multiple regression revealed a significant negative correlation between traumatic stress and mothers’ resilience (p=.049). The findings also suggest that social support and cognitive appraisal mediate this relationship. Traumatic stress experience by mothers decreased with increased social support (β=−.291, p=.045), leading to an increase in mothers’ resilience (β=.297, p=.032). In like manner, with positive appraisal, mothers’ stress level decreased (β=−.334, p=.023), leading to increased resilience (β=.441, p=.003). Although quality health care showed a significant positive relationship with mothers’ resilience (β=.313, p=.023), it did not mediate the relationship between mothers’ stress level and their resilience. Positive social change strategies should focus on the complex personal and social needs of this population in order to strengthen their coping resources, improve their abilities to find meaning in their loss, and build their resilience.