Potentially Traumatic Events of Women of Color in an Urban Adult Basic Education Program

ABSTRACT

Adult Basic Education (ABE) in the United States is an important tool for underrepresented and underserved communities to achieve the goal of high school graduation following noncompletion of K-12 education. Largely in urban settings, ABE centers serve millions of students annually, especially historically and contemporarily marginalized groups. ABE provides critical resources and skills to meet the educational needs of diverse peoples seeking to advance their station in life. ABE centers may serve students with potentially traumatic events (PTE), diagnosable trauma, and related poorer outcomes. Alarmingly, a paucity of research exists that examines the presence of PTEs for ABE students, particularly people and womgen of color. In the present research, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item measures were used to weigh depression and anxiety scores across the Life Events Checklist for the DSM-5 (LEC-5) trauma types in a sample (N = 170) of predominantly women of color. We examined three respondent groups based on proximity and frequency of PTEs: (1) denied; (2) witnessed/learned about; and (3) experienced. Results indicate that those experiencing higher levels of PTEs (namely, sexual assault, unwanted/uncomfortable sexual experience, and sudden accidental death) also experienced higher ratings of depression and anxiety. More research is indicated, as women of color within ABE settings could benefit from tailored resources for prevention, intervention, and treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Anxiety
• depression
• school
• trauma exposure
• women/girls

Acknowledgments

The author’s would like to offer their gratitude to the Adult Basic Education participants, staff, educators, and leadership. Namely, Michelle Bonora and Toni Walker for their substantial support and contributions.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

All ethical standards were followed and approved by the institutional review board and informed consent was obtained from all participants of this research.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (F32AA029627; L30AA030412) to Maria C. Crouch, Principal Investigator. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This work was funded in part by the State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), but this publication does not express the views of DMHAS or the State of Connecticut. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors.