Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Posttraumatic Cognitions in the Wake of the Death of Michael Brown

On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson Missouri, sparking protests and civil unrest. Three studies have yielded inconsistent findings regarding the presence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) in the aftermath of the unrest in Ferguson. Additional work is needed to understand how exposure to community-level stressors may correspond with trauma-related outcomes, as well as accounting for knowledge of, and engagement in the events. Posttraumatic cognitions have also not been researched. The present study examined the associations between Ferguson exposure, knowledge of Ferguson events, Black Lives Matter (BLM) membership, PTSSs, and posttraumatic cognitions among 514 undergraduate students from a university near Ferguson ( Mage = 23.89, SD = 6.94; 79.2% female; 57.4% White, 29.4% Black). The four posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters and posttraumatic cognitions regarding the world were also investigated. Women, those with greater prior trauma exposure, and those with greater knowledge of Ferguson events reported higher PTSS. Greater knowledge of Ferguson events evinced ties to intrusion symptoms; however, Ferguson knowledge or direct exposure and BLM membership were consistently not associated with the other three symptom clusters. Moreover, these variables were not related to negative posttraumatic cognitions. Sex and cumulative trauma demonstrated links to all of the dependent variables. Prior trauma history may be key in understanding reactions to collective trauma, and knowledge of these events may play a smaller, but important, role.