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Tools for Assessing Racism-Related Stress and Trauma Among Latinos

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Toolkit for Counseling Spanish-Speaking Clients

Abstract

Hispanic Americans experience higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than their European American counterparts. One explanation for this finding is the differential experience of racism, which can in itself be traumatic. The mechanism by which racism results in PTSD is thought be due to the uncontrollable, anxiety-producing, and distressing nature of such events, combined with a lack of ability or opportunity to mentally process the experiences. PTSD caused by racism, or racial trauma, is underdiagnosed due to a lack of awareness among clinicians and a lack of validated measures for its assessment. This chapter describes racism toward Latino/as, measures for the assessment of racism-related stress and trauma, and introduces a new clinician-administered interview, the UConn Racial/Ethnic Stress and Trauma Survey (UnRESTS), to aid in its assessment. Translation procedures for the UnRESTS are described, and the measure is provided in English and Spanish.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Celenia DeLapp for her assistance with translation work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA

    Monnica T. Williams PhD

  2. Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Center for Mental Health Disparities, Louisville, KY, USA

    Adriana Peña & Judy Mier-Chairez

  3. Department of Psychology, Spalding University, Louisville, KY, USA

    Adriana Peña

Authors
  1. Monnica T. Williams PhD
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  2. Adriana Peña
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  3. Judy Mier-Chairez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Monnica T. Williams PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Lorraine T. Benuto

Appendix

Appendix

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Williams, M.T., Peña, A., Mier-Chairez, J. (2017). Tools for Assessing Racism-Related Stress and Trauma Among Latinos. In: Benuto, L. (eds) Toolkit for Counseling Spanish-Speaking Clients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64880-4_4

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