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 years within the United States and Canada. Much attention has been granted to 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 framework developed by Pearlin, which provides an understanding of how stress exposure influences 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 (rho = .049). The findings suggest that social support and cognitive appraisal mediate this relationship. Traumatic stress experience by mothers decreased with increased social support (beta = -.291, rho = .045), leading to an increase in mothers' resilience (beta = .297, rho = .032). With positive appraisal, mothers' stress level decreased (&beta = -.334, rho = .023), leading to increased resilience (beta = .441, rho = .003). 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