In early 2020, the world was unexpectedly thrown into turmoil with the rapid spread of COVID-19. As of November 2022, it is estimated that over 98 million people in the USA had contracted COVID-19, and more than 1 million people have died from COVID-19-related complications [20], necessitating people to cope with a range of stressors such as negative health repercussions and loss. Many states began shutting down businesses and enacting stay-at-home orders in efforts to contain the spread of the virus [38], and many Americans began experiencing financial strain and unemployment skyrocketed as the economy took a sharp downturn due to business closures and national and global supply chain issues [22, 53].

In the same year that COVID-19 was classified a global pandemic, the USA also experienced a surge in attention given to the plight of Black people in the USA within the policing system, following the killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin. Although Chauvin was fired, arrested, and charged with murder only days later, Floyd’s death sparked national and international outrage and protests [56]. What added fuel to the fire was that Floyd’s murder came only months after two other high-profile cases of Black people being killed by White violence and police: Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

These three killings of unarmed Black Americans by police and White Americans represent what some have called a “pandemic” of injustice in criminal justice and policing: Black people in the USA are 3.5 times more likely than White people to be killed by police [49]. Furthermore, in most cases of police violence, police officers are not held accountable, rarely being charged with a crime, and let alone being actually convicted [42]. Americans all over the country took to the streets in protest of ongoing police brutality against Black Americans. More than 10,600 demonstrations took place in the USA between May and August of 2020, with over 80% directly connected to the Black Lives Matter movement [3]. In response to the protests and in light of COVID-19 further highlighting racial inequalities, leaders of major organizations acknowledged racism as a pandemic and an ongoing threat to public health [2].

Importantly, both the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing “pandemic” of police and White violence against Black people in the USA cause significant amounts of stress, which disproportionately affect Black Americans [19, 22, 31]. The racism present in the legal system and policing practices represents a significant source of racism-related stress for Black Americans, and have ongoing negative emotional and health impacts, seen particularly through the case of George Floyd [19]. As a generalized stressor, COVID-19 increased the levels of stress people experience broadly: the pandemic resulted in rampant unemployment, particularly for Black Americans, increased difficulty in paying for basic needs, and Black Americans get sick and die at disproportionate rates from COVID-19.

In the face of stress, people rely on various coping strategies to adapt to or reduce that stress. While there is consensus among scholars that coping is multidimensional, there is both variability and overlap in the approaches individuals use to cope [13, 21, 40, 47]. Much of the existing research, however, particularly the more foundational work, relied on predominantly White populations; as such, some scholars intentionally sought to understand possible cultural differences in coping strategies. Through this work, scholars investigated coping among Black Americans, finding that Black people utilize different strategies to cope with racism-related stress than with more general, non-racism-related stress [8, 32, 37, 58, 65].

Racism-Related Stress

Race-related stressors (e.g., discrimination) can be defined as “race-related transactions between individuals or groups and their environment that emerge from the dynamics of racism, and that are perceived to tax or exceed existing individual and collective resources or threaten well-being” [28], p. 44]. Harrell identified six significant types of race-related stress: racism-related life events (e.g., a specific event), vicarious racism experiences, daily racism microstressors (e.g., microaggressions), chronic-contextual stress (e.g., systemic racism), collective experiences, and trans-generational transmission (e.g., discussing historical events). As Harrell further notes, race-related stressors often co-occur and interact with each other and with other life stressors.

Racism-related stress is more damaging for Black Americans than generalized, non-race-related stress [9]. Racial discrimination is the most significant stressor in the lives of Black Americans, which is qualitatively distinct from the types of stressors all Americans are vulnerable to, both in form and impact [37, 65], leading to innumerable negative outcomes across the life span of Black Americans [48, 62] including lower well-being [16], greater anger [58], higher depressive symptoms [34], and poorer health outcomes [4, 41].

COVID-19 and Black Americans

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an ongoing, lasting impact on the lives of people worldwide. Data show that Americans felt the pandemic resulted in feelings of isolation because of reduced ability to engage with family and friends, disrupted normal routines and travel, degraded their mental, physical, and emotional health, and negatively impacted their careers and work-life balance [59]. These difficulties were most pronounced for Black, Latino, and Native American households [50]. COVID-19 has also had a significant and disproportionate impact on Black Americans: higher and longer unemployment rates, less ability to care for children and family, negative impacts on children’s education, and worse mental health [22, 31]. Black Americans are the most likely racial group to know someone who has died from the coronavirus, and while they are infected with COVID-19 at rates similar to their share of the US population, they die from COVID-19 at disproportionate rates [31].

Impacts of Police Violence

The negative psychological effect experienced by Black Americans because of police brutality is an example of a racism-related stressor. Police violence against Black Americans is not a new phenomenon, dating back to the formation of the first police units created from slave patrols [29, 44]. Presently, Black men are nearly three times more likely than White men to be killed by police [42], and Black people are killed by the police at higher rates than any other racial group [18]. While the murder of George Floyd was arguably the most high-profile case of police killings of unarmed Black people in recent years, many of these cases have been garnering increased public attention in the past decade, particularly in light of newer technologies (e.g., cell phone and police body camera footage) that capture police violence in real time and allow for images (and subsequent protests and legal proceedings) to be shared widely and repeatedly. Previous studies have shown that the continued sharing and coverage of the murder of Black people by police and White vigilantes produces collective trauma and negatively impacts psychological health for Black Americans more broadly [27, 63, 64], as Black Americans can become traumatized vicariously by witnessing victimization against other Black Americans [6]. The impact of killings of Black Americans by police goes well beyond static mental health concerns, representing a “dynamic shock to the psychological well-being of Black Americans not experienced by White Americans” [19, p. 3].

Black Americans and Coping with Stress

People engage in various coping strategies in response to stressors. Coping is defined as “emotional, cognitive, and behavioral strategies used to adapt to or decrease stress” [65, p. 3]. There have been many different yet often overlapping types of coping strategies identified by different researchers. Lazarus and Folkman [40] assert that there are two main categories of coping strategies: problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. The former addresses the problem, for instance, by trying to change the situation or remove the stressor, while the latter focuses on attempts to reduce negative emotions that result from stress [65]. Endler and Parker [21] utilize similar language; however, they point to three dimensions: task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidant-oriented.

Research indicates that people use different coping strategies depending on the type of stressor, for instance, racism-related versus non-racism-related stress [65]. Multiple models that explore coping with racism-related stress evaluate the interactions between stress, appraisal (how someone perceives a situation as stressful), and coping [37]. Both maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies to racism-related stress have psychological and physiological health impacts [37].

Racially and ethnically minoritized people experience racism-related stress in ways that most White Americans do not. Black Americans are uniquely situated based on their particular history with oppression and discrimination through and beyond slavery. As such, researchers have investigated the coping strategies most employed by Black Americans, as well as the situations in which they are likely to use these strategies. For instance, some research suggests that African Americans commonly use emotion-focused coping strategies to deal with racism-related stress [65]. There are also some emergent differences in how Black Americans cope over the life course, although there are clear threads of similarity for Black Americans of all ages.

Brown and colleagues [9] found that young adult Black Americans’ coping strategies vary based on context, with very little overlap between the two types of situations. Active, planning, positive reframing, acceptance, humor, self-distraction, and self-blame were used significantly more for general versus racism-related coping, while religion and venting were used more for racism-related coping. Some differences also emerged across gender: men and women were very similar with regard to dispositional coping strategies, however, very dissimilar in terms of racism-related coping; and both men and women alter their coping strategies when dealing with racism, but women demonstrated a more pronounced shift—men more typically use either humor or substance use, while women use religion, emotional, and instrumental support. In a study of African American college students, Hoggard, Byrd, and Sellers [32] found individuals more often engage in avoidant coping and less planful coping, and are more likely to employ confrontive coping strategies, in response to racially stressful events as compared to non-racially stressful events. In another college student sample, Utsey and colleagues [58] found that African American college students are more likely to seek social support than use problem-solving strategies when coping with discrimination, and African American college women were more likely to use avoidant coping than their male counterparts. A few studies found that African Americans may engage in drug use as coping strategies for high levels of racial discrimination [33, 39, 43]. Finally, Jackson and Harvey-Wingfield [35] found that African American men demonstrate more selectiveness in support-seeking strategies, typically discussing their negative emotions only around other African Americans. Jackson and Wingfield [35] and Wingfield [66] find that Black Americans regulate their emotions at work in order to counter negative stereotypes and avoid negative reactions from White coworkers. Because Black Americans feel they must regulate their emotions, they often attempt to avoid situations which may be emotionally inducing through emotion-focused coping strategies, such as distancing or positive reappraisal [7]. One aspect of this is suppressing emotions in an effort not to appear weak or be a burden to others, particularly for Black women [67].

Finally, the type of racism influences the coping strategies that Black Americans use. For instance, Black Americans tend to utilize collective coping, social support, and problem-solving strategies in response to cultural racism, and lean more heavily on spirituality-based coping for interpersonal racism [36]. Research further demonstrates that people who experience institutional racism may engage in active, problem-solving, or collective coping strategies [36, 37]. These strategies can be formal or informal: for instance, Black Americans may participate in self-help support groups, or engage in resistance coping such as protests.

Previous research on coping for Black Americans typically focuses exclusively on African Americans; however, we understand race as an imperfect concept because it is socially constructed. As such, there are differences in identification along the intersections of race and ethnicity. For example, research shows that ethnic Blacks, particularly those who are first- or second-generation immigrants, often attempt to set themselves apart from native born African Americans [5]. Research also highlights how Hispanic people often struggle with racial identity due to the nature of race in the USA [57], and while White Hispanic people have historically been able to assimilate as White, darker-skinned Hispanic people have not, and may be racialized by others as Black [45]. Furthermore, research shows that multiracial individuals with Black heritage often feel forced to identify exclusively as Black because that is how others see them [15]. In an effort to account for these differences in ethnicity, yet overall racialization as Black, we intentionally expand to include all Black-identifying individuals, further adding to existing knowledge.

This current investigation seeks to understand how the coping strategies of Black people in the USA compare between the racism-related stressor of police killings of Black Americans, like George Floyd, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Do Black people use the same strategies to cope with both events, particularly given how detrimental COVID-19 has been for Black people? Or are different strategies utilized, in line with existing research? To answer this question, we analyze data from a study on racial discrimination and COVID-19 experiences conducted in May 2020, just weeks after the death of George Floyd, and during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic [54]. We further explore how these strategies vary based on gender (men vs. women) and ethnicity (Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic).

Method

Sample

Data used in this analysis come from a broader survey study on racial discrimination and COVID-19 experiences that involved multiple time points for data collection. Data for the first time point (T1) were collected during the first 2 weeks of May 2020, during the time period when many states enacted stay-at-home orders and other mandates in response to the developing COVID-19 pandemic [51, 68]. A total of 963 participants, 303 of which (31.46%) were Black, were recruited for a baseline survey from CloudResearch MTurk Toolkit, a widely-used online platform used for recruiting survey participants for web-based research projects. CloudResearch allows researchers to target large and representative samples and implements comprehensive data quality measures such as protection against fraudulent responses and low engagement. Participants completed a self-report survey hosted on Qualtrics. A follow-up survey during a second time point (T2) was conducted 6 weeks later with a subsample from T1. All participants were required to be at least 18 years of age or older and living in the USA, and all participants who completed T1 were eligible to participate in the T2 survey. Demographic information was collected in the T1 survey and all other measures (i.e., coping) were collected in the T2 survey.

Qualitative analysis for this paper was limited to the 128 Black participants who completed the T2 survey (total T2 sample N = 440; 29.09% Black). Twenty-four participants were excluded because they did not respond to the focal coping questions. We include all participants who identified as Black or African American (which we refer to broadly as Black American; n = 100), multiracial Black (those who self-identify as Black and at least one other race), and Hispanic Black (those who self-identify as Hispanic origin). We combined multiracial and Hispanic Black participants into one group (n = 28) for analysis given the small sample size. Participants ranged between 19 and 73 years of age (M = 37.96, Sd = 13.69), 51.6% (n = 66) identified as women, 43% (n = 55) as men, 3.9% (n = 5) as nonbinary or genderfluid, and 1.6% (n = 2) did not identify gender.

Analytic Strategy

To explore how the coping strategies of Black Americans compare between racism-related stressors connected to the murder of George and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we focused on participant responses to two main survey questions with similar wording, each addressing COVID-19 or the killing of George Floyd and other Black people:

We would like to learn more about how you have been coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the space below, please describe the feelings and experiences you’ve had related to COVID-19, and how you have been dealing or coping with these feelings and experiences.

We would like to learn more about how you are feeling and what you are experiencing about the recent killing of George Floyd (and other Black Americans including Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery) and the Black Lives Matters protests. In the space below, please describe the feelings and experiences you’ve had related to these events, and how you have been dealing or coping with these feelings and experiences.

All participant responses were analyzed independently by the first two authors, reviewed to resolve discrepancies, and verified by the third author. Guided by existing theory, we utilized deductive reasoning to make sense of these data, allowing for emergent themes [see 11. We first analyzed participant responses to these focus questions to categorize their emotional responses to COVID-19 and the killing of Black Americans. We used the expanded version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X) [61] as codes to group responses. The original PANAS scale was a self-report questionnaire consisting of two 10-item scales created to reliably assess the dominant, basic dimensions of emotional experience: positive and negative affect [60]. For the PANAS-X, Watson and Clark [61] developed an expanded version consisting of 60 items that measures the higher order emotions (positive and negative affect) as well as eleven lower order emotional states. During the first pass through the data, responses were coded along the general dimension scales of PANAS-X as either Positive Affect or Negative Affect. In the second pass through the data, responses were coded along the expanded scales of PANAS-X: basic negative emotion scales (Fear, Hostility, Guilt, Sadness), basic positive emotion scales (Joviality, Self-Assurance, Attentiveness), and other affective states (Shyness, Fatigue, Serenity, Surprise). Emergent codes for responses not fitting into any of these classifications were also noted, as well as overlapping categories (e.g., a participant mentioned both positive and negative emotions). All participant responses were able to be coded at minimum as either Positive Affect, Negative Affect, both, or neither (i.e., the participant did not make note of any emotions).

Second, we analyzed the reported coping strategies of the respondents, reviewing the same responses to focal questions. The initial coding involved classifying responses along the categories outlined in the Brief COPE [10], a multidimensional inventory that assesses fourteen coping strategies: active, planning, positive reframing, acceptance, humor, religion, emotional support, instrumental support, self-distraction, denial, venting, substance use, behavioral disengagement, and self-blame. We made note of any emergent strategy classifications and overlapping codes. Subsequent coding passes involved finalizing classification along the Brief COPE and emergent codes, and mapping all classifications onto existing, broader frameworks for coping strategies, using Lazarus and Folkman’s [40] problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, and Endler and Parker’s [21] conceptualization of task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidant-oriented coping. Given the added complexity racism-related stress brings, we also pulled from several conceptualizations of coping strategies research has shown that Black Americans use to cope with discrimination [8, 32, 37, 65]. After all responses were coded, we analyzed the responses to determine what patterns in coping strategies emerged for our sample across the racism-related stressors related to the killing of George and other Black Americans and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

Emotional Responses to COVID-19

Out of the 128 respondents, 84 discussed their emotions in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the majority (n = 61) indicated that they had generally negative emotional responses. Most described negative emotions highlighted apprehension, stress, and anxiety, typically in the form of worries about becoming sick, or losing jobs, income, or material goods (i.e., supply chain issues for food). For example, one woman wrote, “Most of my stress involving COVID-19 has been due to me worrying about family and friends (especially family/older family) getting infected. I worry more about them than myself. I’ve also been a bit stressed about inconveniences/shortages when grocery shopping.” Respondents also revealed that they were experiencing increased sadness, mostly because of isolation or generalized concern for everyone who was struggling with the pandemic.

Emotional Responses to the Killing of Black Americans

More participants (n = 94) discussed their emotional reactions to the murder of George Floyd and killings of unarmed Black Americans than did in response to COVID-19, and unsurprisingly nearly all (n = 91) indicated that they experienced negative emotions. The most cited feelings centered on fear (n = 39), sadness (n = 39), or anger (n = 32), and many respondents spoke about overlapping emotions. For example, a gender fluid participant wrote, “Angry, scared, outraged, depressed. I wanted to join the protests, but I’m afraid I’ll get killed or injured by the police if I go. When the protests first started I was afraid to leave my home.” In fact, 5 respondents connected their fear directly to mistrust of the police, which is supported by existing research on larger trends of Black American perceptions of police [24, 55].

Coping with COVID-19

Participants (87 of 128) discussed myriad strategies they used to cope with their feelings and experiences related to COVID-19. The overwhelming majority of responses involved active coping and self-distraction strategies. Table 1 provides a detailed breakdown of participants’ coping strategies. Forty-three of these Black respondents discussed taking affirmative steps to cope with the pandemic and their feelings about it, typically through following recommendations that help reduce the spread of COVID-19 or their likelihood of being infected (e.g., hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing, and isolatingFootnote 1). One woman provided a detailed account:

I always wear my mask when going into a store. I only order take out at restaurants. Sometimes, when I go in stores and am in the checkout line, some people will get too close to where I am standing. This makes me paranoid about how close they are standing. When I get to my car, I will use hand sanitizer. If the mask touches my face, I will use hand sanitizer on my face, (around my nose and mouth).

Table 1 Coping strategies for COVID-19 by gender
Full size table

A similar number of participants (n = 42) also used various forms of self-distraction to cope with COVID-19. Many of the participants described picking up new hobbies, exercising more, focusing more on work, and watching more television and streaming services. For example, one man discussed how he tried to keep busy to cope with his stress and frustration, writing:

I’ve felt a little stressed out about the fact that I can’t really do anything or see most people. Living, working, sleeping in the same place with nowhere to go is a bit frustrating. To cope with it, I try to stay active and busy. I try not to think about it, even though it’s nearly impossible. I’ve started doing meditation and creative at home workouts to fill the void of going places/seeing people.

As previously stated, the participants employed various strategies to cope with their feelings and experiences related to COVID-19. To a much lesser degree than active coping and self-distraction, participants discussed using things like prayer and meditation (n = 11), trying to reframe changes in a positive light (n = 9), seeking emotional support from family and friends (n = 5), and acceptance of their new realities (n = 5). It is important to note that most strategies were used in combination, however, and not in isolation. For instance, 19 out of the 43 respondents who indicated they used some form of active coping only used this strategy; more than half also talked about other coping strategies as well. For instance, one woman discussed how, in addition to wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer when out in public, she has also been volunteering with a local organization to pass out food to others in need. Another man showcases how many coping strategies can be used in combination, writing,

I go with the flow. I made my own face mask. I keep a social distance. I ride my bicycle instead of taking public transportation. I pray for the well-being of friends. I openly express my frustration. Zoom has been a God-send [sic].

As Table 1 shows, similar percentages of women and men used active coping, while women were slightly more likely to report using self-distraction than men. Women were also more likely to seek emotional support or engage in positive reframing than men. Overall, however, no meaningful differences emerged across gender. We also assessed ethnic differences in coping strategies, comparing participants who identified only as Black to multiracial and Hispanic Black participants (combined). Overall, little differences emerged. Both groups used active coping and self-distraction strategies the most, although multiracial and Hispanic Black participants were more likely to use the former than the latter, at 39% and 25% respectively. A greater proportion (12 participants) of these groups also did not report any strategies.

Coping with the Killing of Black Americans

Only 54 participants indicated that they used any strategies to cope with the killing of Black Americans like Floyd and Taylor, while 74 did not list any strategy (see Table 2). While a variety of strategies were described by participants, the most-used strategy focused on religion (n = 14), almost exclusively through prayer for positive change for Black people in America, the victims’ families, or safety for the participant themselves. For example, one gender fluid respondent wrote,

The killing of George Floyd was very sad to watch and fellow officers did not intervene was as bad as it can get. Land of the free and home of the brave has made me ashamed of being an American. I just pray that thing can and will get better. Common sense will prevail.

Table 2 Coping strategies for the killing of Black Americans by gender
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Considerably fewer respondents (under 5.5% for each) indicated that they used other strategies to cope, the most used among these including venting or expressing their negative feelings to others, hoping for positive change in the lives of Black Americans, seeking emotional support from others, self-distraction, avoiding the news and other media that is triggering, and increasing their distrust of police. The strategies of hoping for change and distrusting police were quite illuminating, as these strategies are somewhat opposing. As such, none of the participants who discussed hope or increased distrust in police used these strategies in tandem; in fact, some participants indicated that their hope for change was rooted in the possibility of reform within policing practices. For instance, one man wrote, “I cope with these experiences by trying to see a future of change in law enforcement. This is the change of laws and policies put into place at a federal level.” Many participants also used multiple coping strategies at once. For example, one woman stated:

Since the recent killings of George Floyd, I have felt more determined to speak up. I have seen the police killing black individuals at an alarming rate over the past few years. Watching black people die at the hands of police officers angered me greatly in the past and it still does. It is very traumatizing for me, a black woman, to expose myself to the actual videos so I spread awareness as much as possible while avoiding disturbing content. I spend time caring for myself and strengthening my faith to cope.

As Table 2 shows, women were more likely than men to use self-distraction, emotional support, venting, and avoidance of news media. Men and women equally reported increasing distrust in the police; however, interestingly men were the only respondents to indicate that they were hopeful for change for Black people.

Compared to Black Americans who identified only as Black, multiracial and Hispanic Black participants were less likely to report any strategies for dealing with the killing of Black people in the USA: only 8 of 28 identified coping strategies. The use of coping strategies for these killings is where the differences in racial and ethnic identity in this sample are most salient. Several of the Hispanic Black respondents discussed comradery with Black Americans, whether through family ties or a broader diasporic connection as Black people. For example, one Hispanic Black woman noted, “I’m nervous for my black brothers in and out of my family. I’m even worried for my future son.” Similarly, a Hispanic Black man wrote, “I feel frustrated as a Latino because I relate to my black brothers and sisters.” Conversely, some respondents distinguished themselves as not Black, for instance a Hispanic Black man who wrote, “I can’t sit here and tell you that I know what it’s like to be a Black person in America and have to deal with the obstacles that come with every day [sic] life. I can’t because I’ve never lived it.” These individuals likely select “Black” for race at least in part to recognize their African ancestry, yet they identify as Hispanic (which may or may not also speak to how they are viewed phenotypically by others). However, whether participants discussed or did not discuss their racial identities, nearly all of them expressed support for Black people, and many expressed negative emotions and stress, in light of these ongoing killings. Only one multiracial Black woman discussed her racial identity, to point out that she experienced racism firsthand but “probably different than most people…because I am mixed…,” and that these experiences made her “sensitive to the brutality and killings of black people by police.” Overwhelmingly, the multiracial Black participants mirrored Black American respondents in their emotional reactions and coping strategies.

Discussion

This study aimed to identify and compare the ways in which Black Americans cope with both the racism-related stressor of the killing of Black Americans and the generalized stressor of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings demonstrate clear differences in strategies employed to cope with these stressors, consistent with existing literature on the coping strategies of Black people. The widespread use of emotion-focused and avoidant coping found in this study is consistent with existing research. Findings further support past research, which suggests that Black people are more likely than their White peers to use religious coping [12] and may attempt to avoid situations that provoke emotional responses because they often feel they must limit the expression of their emotions [7]. Additionally, studies show that Black Americans use strategies like religion and venting more for racism-related coping than for generalized stressors [8]. Within the study, venting was used almost exclusively in response to the killing of Black people in the USA. This may be related to the emotions our participants expressed related to this racial stressor as well as the potential outcome of this strategy. It seems likely they found more utility in outwardly vocalizing their feelings of fear, sadness, and anger, particularly if it served to let others know how they felt about the disproportionate killing of Black Americans. This outward expression could also be mobilized as a type of education or social action, for example, by informing others about the realities of anti-Black racism or organizing against police brutality. Mobilizing venting in this way, in response to such traumatic circumstances, can also help Black people reclaim even a modicum of agency in a situation where they have little to none, which can also be therapeutic [36]. Importantly, however, very few of the Black people in our study used venting in this way, or used any agentic coping strategy, in response to the killing of Black Americans, which likely speaks to the nature of this particular racism-related stressor.

Problem-focused coping strategies were utilized almost exclusively in response to COVID-19 (more than 10 times as many participants used active coping for this stressor), as was the more avoidant-oriented strategy of self-distraction. Both responses were the most used strategies for COVID-19, with roughly one-third of all respondents using them. Conversely, very few participants used self-distraction or a form of direct coping in response to the killing of Black Americans. Moreover, findings indicate that emotion-focused strategy of acceptance was employed differently for the generalized stressor of COVID-19 than for the racism-related stressor of the killings of Black Americans.

Differences emerged in avoidance coping strategies participants levied in response to COVID-19 and the killing of Black people in the USA. Self-distraction strategies were common for COVID-19; however, almost no respondents used self-distraction to cope with the killing of Black Americans. Conversely, respondents did use strategies like avoiding the news and other media or increasing their distrust of police to cope with Black death; neither strategy came up for COVID-19, even though avoiding media or increasing distrust in state actors like the government or national health agencies could be useful in circumventing harmful interactions or misinformation, given the over-politicization of COVID-19. Two additional differences reflect the ways participants used positive reframing strategies and strategies of hope. The former was used nearly exclusively for COVID-19, where participants attempted to reframe their new realities in more positive ways, while the latter was used in greater numbers as a response to the killing of Black Americans.

These results should be considered within the context of the perceived controllability of these two stressors. Extensive research indicates that uncontrollable stressors are more detrimental to individuals’ well-being, and patterns of coping responses depend on this perceived controllability [23, 25, 26, 52]. In the wake of the ongoing killing of Black people by police and civilians, many of whom are unarmed and perceived as a threat in large part because of their Black identity, self-distraction is likely less advantageous given the uncontrollability of police and White violence. Furthermore, what active strategies can you take when you have no control over the actions of others? In fact, one need only examine the realities of some Black Americans who have been killed recently to see that active steps regularly have no impact on the outcome for the victims of tragic violence. Take for example the case of Philando Castile, who was complying with police orders before being killed by Officer Jeronimo Yanez [17]. In short, avoidant coping could be seen as more adaptive, particularly as seen through some participants who discussed literally trying to avoid dangerous situations with police altogether. Conversely, there are clear steps that can be taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: following CDC guidelines for handwashing, social distancing, and mask wearing, as well as isolating from others. Used appropriately and in various combinations, these actions minimize COVID-19 exposure and infection. Additionally, strategies of self-distraction—going for a run or walk, binge watching a new Netflix show, indulging in your favorite treat—can serve to reduce stress related to COVID-19, even if only for a short time. This strategy makes sense given that, at the time of this study, many cities and states had variations of lock-down and stay-at-home orders; as such, our respondents would be figuring out ways to occupy their time while likely significantly reducing their activities outside of the house that involve large groups of people.

We did not identify any notable gender differences. In response to COVID-19, active coping strategies were used at roughly the same rates, while women were slightly more likely to use self-distraction, seek emotional support, and engage in positive reframing compared to men. These results align with existing research that shows that Black men and women are similar in their most frequently used coping strategies for generalized stressors [8]. In response to the racism-related stressor of the killing of Black Americans, men and women were equally likely to report increased distrust in the police, but women were more likely than men to seek emotional support, vent, or avoid media. Also, only men expressed hope for change. This is also supported by research showing that Black men and women are more dissimilar in racism-related coping [8].

These results provide important contributions to literature on the coping behaviors of Black people. As other scholars have previously noted, much of the historical, foundational research on coping utilized predominantly White populations [1, 8, 65]. It is only relatively recently that we see scholars investigating cultural differences in coping, using more racially diverse or non-White samples [8, 30, 37, 65]. With this in mind, we intentionally focused our analysis on Black people, and our findings are supported by and add to newer literature on the coping strategies of this population. Furthermore, we examined differences between Black Americans and multiracial and Hispanic Black participants. While few differences emerged in coping strategies for COVID-19, racial and ethnic identity did appear to be associated with perceptions of, but not responses to, the killing of Black Americans for the Hispanic Black participants, who overwhelmingly expressed support for their “Black brothers and sisters.” Overall, the strategies employed by both Hispanic and multiracial Black participants mirrored the strategies of Black Americans who identified only as Black. For the multiracial participants, being racialized as Black by others likely informs their views [15]; similarly, the Black Hispanic participants’ experiences with racism inform their views. Future research should continue to examine potential cultural differences in coping behaviors using racially and ethnically diverse samples.

This project also serves to further illuminate the impacts of a major global event, the COVID-19 pandemic, on Black people in the USA, as well the ongoing disparities in fatal actions against Black people by police. While COVID-19 has unquestioningly impacted people through the USA and worldwide, it has had a significant and disproportionate impact on Black people, including higher unemployment rates [22, 31], increased financial troubles that impact ability to pay for basic needs [31, 50], and higher adverse outcomes on mental health [31]. Given the high-profile nature of the murder of George Floyd in particular, there was widespread media coverage that produces collective trauma and results in deleterious psychological health effects for Black Americans [27, 63, 64], and even vicarious traumatization [6]. In fact, the killing of Floyd led to unprecedented levels of anger and sadness, as well as significantly higher depression and anxiety symptoms for Black Americans as compared to White Americans [19]. Our findings give continued voice to these outcomes.

Generally speaking, coping strategies can be categorized as either adaptive—healthy and helpful—or maladaptive, being harmful practices for the person coping. Importantly, then, our research calls to mind a particular question: what are healthy coping strategies for generalized stressors, like COVID-19, or racism-related stressors, like the killing of Black people by state and White violence? Overwhelmingly, the strategies our participants employed were healthy, like following CDC recommendations to reduce exposure to COVID-19 or leaning into religion as a way to maintain peace and connection in light of tragedy. Only one person mentioned a maladaptive coping strategy for COVID-19: substance use. In response to the killing of Black Americans, only two people engaged in a strategy that could be construed as clearly maladaptive: self-blame. Despite the clear predominance of healthy coping strategies, it could be reasonably argued that any strategy that helps you cope without causing significant harm to yourself or others could be seen as healthy, even if it is maladaptive in the short term, particularly when thinking about racism-related stressors that are often out of your hands to avoid completely. Notably, however, there was one healthy strategy that was conspicuous in its absence: utilizing therapy. We address the potential reasons why this did not emerge from our participants in our concluding thoughts.

Conclusion

Some limitations stem from the study design. Since we use open-ended responses to a survey rather than in-depth interviews, we could not probe for more detailed information from participants. The use of an online convenience sample also means our results may be less generalizable than if we had a more representative population.

This study represents a specific and unique snapshot in history. We focus on two specific stressors—COVID-19 and the ongoing killing of Black people in the USA—with the former being time-bound in the sense that everyday life under the COVID-19 pandemic has changed significantly between its beginning in 2020 and late 2021 and beyond (e.g., the development of vaccines, general societal return to pre-pandemic norms). Therefore, while it is unclear to what extent our findings about coping generalize to other stressors, we believe our findings do have implications that extend far beyond the impact of COVID-19 and the killing of George Floyd and other Black people in 2020. Racial injustices are not new in the USA, and until systemic racism is eliminated, they will persist into the future such that issues of discrimination, including health disparities and police brutality, will be ongoing racism-related stressors that Black people in the USA must continue to navigate and cope with. Likewise, although COVID-19 reflects one particular non-racism-related stressor, people will likely face a multitude of other generalized stressors related to all facets of life such as the economy, climate change, and politics. Accordingly, similarities and differences in how Black people cope with different forms of stressors, as gleaned in the current study, help inform future studies and interventions.

Our study has implications for Black mental health. Since our findings are corroborated by existing research on the coping strategies of Black people with racism-related and non-racism-related stressors, we add our voices to scholars and practitioners suggesting that there is a need for increased understanding of why Black people use particular coping strategies, such as emotion-focused and avoidant-oriented, more than others, and why they do not employ other strategies. For instance, not a single participant mentioned utilizing formal therapy as part of their coping repertoire. Although this does not necessarily indicate that no one in the sample used therapy, existing research does suggest that Black Americans may underutilize therapy or have less satisfactory experiences because of racism-related factors, including barriers to access, medical mistrust, and discriminatory experiences from providers (e.g., microaggressions, less cultural competency) [14, 46]. Given the centrality of Black racial identity for many Black people in the USA and its implications for police killings of people like George Floyd or Breonna Taylor, Black people may also be more likely to desire a same-race therapist. Due to the low number of overall Black psychologists, however—they represent only 3% of the psychology workforce [2]—this outcome is very unlikely. Future research should continue to examine other factors, such as systemic barriers or ideological racism, that may impact the coping choices of Black Americans. In addition to illuminating barriers, future research should investigate ways to possibly strengthen programs and avenues of support for Black people that they are already utilizing, such as through collaboration with religious organizations. Our study, along with related studies, offer a stronger grasp of the coping strategies of Black Americans that can provide valuable insight into the amelioration of Black mental health to aid the effects of the deep-rooted disparities.