Assessing “Friendly Fire”: The development & validation of the Cultural Betrayal Multidimensional Inventory for Black American Young Adults (CBMI-BAYA)

Racism impacts Black American young adults and further impacts those who experience violence. Cultural betrayal trauma theory proposes (intra)cultural trust, such as solidarity in the Black community, is a protective factor against racism. Because it violates (intra)cultural trust, within-group violence is a cultural betrayal trauma that negatively impacts mental health and cultural outcomes, such as internalized prejudice. An ongoing limitation of the evidence base is that there are no validated measures of aspects of the theory. The purpose of the current multi-study report is to develop and validate the Cultural Betrayal Multidimensional Inventory for Black American Young Adults, with questionnaires for (intra)cultural trust, cultural betrayal, violence N = 342) and Black community young adults (Study 2; N = 619). Confirmatory factor analyses, correlational analyses, content expert feedback, and theoretical contribution review by the authors resulted in a scientifically valid, culturally congruent multidimensional inventory for assessing cultural betrayal trauma theory specifically—and violence in the context of racism generally—with Black American young adults. The Cultural Betrayal Multidimensional Inventory for Black American Young Adults can engender research on violence, discrimination, and in-group dynamics with Black American young adults, which has implications for basic research that can inform culturally competent violence prevention and intervention programs.