Disclosure of direct and witnessed police stops among Black youth in Baltimore City, Maryland: Implications for posttraumatic stress symptoms

Youth-police contact is increasingly acknowledged as a stressor and a racialized adverse childhood experience that can undermine youths' mental health. There is limited empirical research, however, on youths' disclosure of police stops to trusted others and how disclosure might mitigate adverse mental health responses to police stops. The present study examines patterns of disclosure following direct and witnessed police stops and their implications for posttraumatic stress among a diverse sample of Black youth. Data come from the Survey of Police-Adolescent Contact Experiences (SPACE), a cross-sectional survey of a community-based sample of Black youth ages 12–21 in Baltimore City, Maryland (n = 341), administered from August 2022 to July 2023. Logistic and negative binomial regression methods were employed to examine key predictors of disclosure and associations between disclosure to recipients (e.g., family members, friends, nonfamilial adults) and police-initiated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PI-PTSS) following memorable stops. Results reveal most youth disclosed direct (65.18%) and witnessed (53.59%) stops. Still, in multivariable models, older youth, lesbian/gay and bisexual youth, and children of immigrant parents were less likely to disclose direct (but not witnessed) stops. Disclosure to a wider range of individuals—and to family members specifically—was associated with reduced PI-PTSS stemming from direct stops, whereas disclosure to nonfamilial adults (e.g., teachers, counselors) was associated with reduced PI-PTSS stemming from witnessed stops. Overall, our findings suggest disparities in Black youths' disclosure of police stops and that disclosure is generally associated with fewer trauma symptoms.