Using EMA to examine the role of emotion regulation and supportive space in protecting Black youth when exposed to racism

Black youth are disproportionately exposed to stressors in their neighborhood, leading to disparities in youth outcomes. Little is known, however, about the role of daily exposure to racism and social support in activity spaces in Black youths’ daily emotions, and whether emotion regulation helps youth recover following an exposure. To address this gap, this study examines the role of social support and emotional regulation in moderating the impact of exposure to stressful activity spaces on the emotional well-being of Black adolescents. Using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), 73 Black adolescents (ages 13–18) living in a historically under-resourced neighborhood completed multiple daily surveys assessing their perceptions of racism and social support in activity spaces, as well as their experience of negative emotions at the end of each day. Findings indicated a direct inverse relationship between exposure to activity spaces with social support and adolescents’ global assessment of negative emotion at the end of the day, but no direct effect between exposure to racism in space and negative emotion. However, the relationship between being in spaces in which racism occurs and negative emotion was moderated by emotion regulation, such that youth who report more emotion regulation reported more negative emotion when exposed to racist spaces. It was also the case that youth with more emotion regulation reported the lowest negative emotion when exposed to supportive spaces; however, this was not the case when perceptions of racism were high. The results suggest the need for a multi-level intervention to promote well-being among Black adolescents.