Twenty-six Black collegians were exposed to a vicarious racial harassment stimulus (VRHS) then randomized into a Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma condition or a silence control condition. Heart rate (HR) was recorded throughout the experiment. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to elicit participants’ appraisal of the VRHS and meditation. Using a Qual:Quan mixed methods experimental design, this pilot study qualitatively categorized how participants (1) described their reactions to the VRHS and (2) appraised the meditation. Participants described three types of race-based stress reactions and reported mostly positive appraisal of the meditation, although some indicated that it would not be a preferred coping strategy. To triangulate the quantitative findings, we found a significant increase in HR during VRHS. The meditation group displayed statistically significant reductions in HR from stimulus to the end of meditation; however, there were no statistically significant differences between the control and meditation groups. Results have implications for understanding and facilitating race-based stress recovery.

Objective: Using a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm and a Black feminist qualitative framework, this study investigated how Black students at a predominantly White university in the southeast defined racial trauma. Method: A purposive sample of 26 participants (10 men and 16 women, aged 18-27) participated in a semistructured interview about their definitions of race-based stress and racial trauma. Data analysis consisted of a six-phase inductive, latent thematic analysis. Researcher reflexivity, interviews, observations, and research memos contributed to trustworthiness. Results: Participants' understandings of race-based stress and racial trauma-informed two composite definitions of racial trauma. Participants conceptualized racial trauma and race-based stress as related and identified three salient components of racial trauma: (a) "Sticking with": temporal component, (b) "Suffering severely": intensity component, and (c) "Repeating regularly": frequency component. Conclusions: The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature by providing an academic and community definition of racial trauma grounded in the voices of Black collegians. These definitions of racial trauma may be used to inform future research, clinical services, and outreach.

Existing conceptualizations and measures of good sex are varied and inconclusive. Additionally, few studies have defined good sex from the margins, thus definitions are primarily informed from privileged perspectives. People with marginalized racial, gender, and sexual identities can offer culturally informed definitions of good sex that may expand current definitions. This study fills that gap by identifying factors that constitute good sex among Black people with diverse sexual and gender identities. Data were collected from 448 Black individuals who participated in an online Qualtrics survey with demographic, open-ended, and scaled questions. Results indicate a range of descriptors that align with existing sexual wellness literature and include the top 20 words to describe good sex as well as the top 10 words for demographics of interest. Differences in most frequent descriptors based on gender and sexual identities are reported. These results provide a foundation for sexual health practitioners, educators, and therapists to improve societal knowledge about what constitutes good sex among Black people.

This content analysis examined the literature on female masturbation from 2000-2020. We sought to elucidate the demographics of women most often studied, whether scholarship favored people with more privileged identities, and the degree to which the literature is sex-positive. Our hypotheses were: a) there is a gap in sex research surrounding female masturbation for women with marginalized identities, and b) the literature will be predominantly sex-positive. Using the search terms “female masturbation” and “women & masturbation” we analyzed 85 articles. Results showed that female masturbation scholarship is primarily sex-positive; however, the samples’ demographics still tend to be less marginalized and more privileged. Further, the results varied based on the articles’ country of origin. This study highlights gaps in the study of female masturbation among marginalized women and the need to improve sex positivity within the literature. Future research directions are discussed.