Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Following the 2014 Events in Ferguson, Missouri: A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Analysis

Background:
In August 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed African American citizen was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a Caucasian police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting of Michael Brown was followed by large-scale community protests and subsequent civil unrest in Ferguson and surrounding St. Louis areas. While a significant amount of research has documented the mental health impacts of shared traumatic events such as natural disasters, much less attention has been placed on understanding the mental health impacts of macro-level, race-related traumatic events involving law enforcement and the killing of black citizens. The purpose of the following study was to examine mental health reactions to 2014 events in Ferguson among 1,014 participants living in the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area. We hypothesized that racial identity, social protest participation, and media exposure would be correlated with post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. We also hypothesized that psychological resilience would have a negative, or inverse relationship to PTS symptoms.

Methods:
The sample included 1,014 adults (18 years or older; N=1014) living in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in R statistical software (lavaan package) using a robust maximum likelihood estimation to ensure multivariate normality. Using a two-step procedure recommended by Kline (2005), a measurement model was first tested in order to establish that the latent variables were well explained by the indicators. Next, the structural model was estimated for the hypothesized direct and indirect relationships between social protest participation, race, media exposure, and psychological resilience with the outcome variable post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Demographic variables of gender and age were included in the model as covariates.

Results:
The hypothesized structural model achieved acceptable fit according to Hu and Bentler’s (1999) and Browne and Cudeck's (1993) guidelines: χ²(df=77) = 298.42, p≤ 0.001, RMSEA = .055 (CI 95%= .049, .062), CFI = .957, TLI = .944, and SRMR = .040. Results found that race (identifying as African American) was associated with greater PTS symptoms (β = .134, SE= .111, CI 95% =.191, 0.617). Results also found that individuals with social protest experience were more likely to report PTS symptoms (β = .464, SE= .066, CI 95% =.304, .572). Media exposure did not have a direct association to PTS symptoms, but rather a significant, indirect relationship to PTS through social protest participation (β = .243, SE= .044, CI 95%=.167, .339). In addition, psychological resilience was found to have a significant, negative or inverse association to PTS symptoms (β = -.105, SE=.044, CI 95%= -.215, -.044).

Implications and Conclusion:
Results in the current study found significant associations between racial identity, protest participation, media use, and PTS symptoms following the 2014 events in Ferguson. This study’s findings highlight the need for future research and interventions to examine and respond to mental health needs following a macro-level, race-related traumatic event. In addition, this study’s results underscore the importance of social workers addressing environmental factors of racial injustice and oppression that may further compound trauma and increase risks for post-traumatic difficulties.