Race as a moderator in the relationship between trauma exposure and resilience among South African adolescents

English: Resilience and trauma exposure are well researched topics. There is extensive knowledge about the nature of traumatic events that adolescents are exposed to, as well as how they have coped with these experiences. The role of race in the relationship between these two variables is not extensively researched and little is known about the exact influences it could or could not have on resilience. With South Africa’s tainted past and the aftermath of the apartheid era, it is difficult to separate racial influences in both resilience and trauma exposure. In turn, race can seldom be separated from culture, and this has further influences on how individuals execute certain tasks or relate to situations. Racial influence is therefore an important area to research if differences in resilience exist among South African citizens, and especially adolescents. The results obtained from this study can therefore be used to add a new perspective to an already rich literature on resilience. The aim of the study was to investigate the moderating influence of racial membership in trauma exposure and resilience among 862 South African adolescents. A non-experimental correlational design was used to describe the relationship between the variables. Correlational studies were further used to determine the extent to which the variables were related. The measuring instruments consisted of a biographical questionnaire, a shortened version of the Stressful Life Events Questionnaire (SLESQ) and the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). The role of racial membership in the relationship between trauma exposure and resilience was investigated using a moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Results from the study indicated that race did not exert a statistically significant moderator effect in the relationship between trauma exposure and resilience among adolescents. The interaction term was therefore dropped from the model and further investigation revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between race and resilience, after the effects of trauma exposure were taken into account. The white participants in the study had statistically significantly higher levels of resilience compared to the black participants.