Perceived online racism, mental health outcomes, feelings of shame, and trauma symptoms among Palestinians: the mediating roles of posttraumatic growth and resilience

Objective: The current study aimed to test the association between perceived online racism, mental health outcomes, feelings of shame and trauma symptoms among Palestinians, and whether posttraumatic growth and resilience mediate the association between these variables. Methods: The sample of our study consisted of 880 participants, comprising 290 males and 590 females. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed having perceived online racism as a predictor, mental health outcomes, feelings of shame, and trauma symptoms as outcomes, and posttraumatic growth and resilience as mediating variables. Results: The findings of our study revealed that perceived online racism positively correlated with depression (r = 0.35, p < .01), anxiety (r = 0.40, p < .01), stress (r = 0.36, p < .01), feelings of shame (r = 0.37, p < .01), and trauma symptoms (r = 0.45, p < .01). Results of (SEM) showed that posttraumatic growth and resilience mediated the association between perceived online racism, and mental health outcomes, feelings of shame, and trauma symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need for further studies to investigate the role of other possible protective factors that may help reduce depression, anxiety, stress, feelings of shame, and trauma symptoms among Palestinians subjected to online racism. Mental health professionals should receive training in culturally sensitive therapeutic approaches and effective communication strategies for addressing racial trauma in clinical settings. This includes equipping practitioners with skills to handle digital trauma and anti-racism interventions effectively.