Hope, Mindfulness, and Anxiety in the Context of Racial Discrimination Among Black Young Adults.
Elijah R Murphy, Jacqueline L Ge, Matthew W Gallagher
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities September 24, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s40615-025-02655-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey study using structural equation modeling Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 635 |
| Population | Black adults (133 men, 502 women) from a large southwestern United States university, ages 18–52 (mean 21.66 years) |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | Black americans Discrimination Hope Social anxiety |
| Key findings | Mindfulness was associated with lower anxiety, social fear, and social avoidance, and hope with lower social fear, when accounting for each other and discrimination. Discrimination was associated with higher anxiety and social anxiety, and these associations remained despite hope and mindfulness. Mindfulness showed more robust protective associations than hope. |
Abstract
Anxiety disorders have a chronic, more severe course among Black individuals. Racial and ethnic discrimination exacerbates anxiety among Black adults. Hope and mindfulness are positive resilience traits that correlate with lower anxiety levels. Protective factors against anxiety must be examined in culturally informed contexts. This study evaluates the unique associations of hope, mindfulness, discrimination, anxiety, and social anxiety among Black adults. Participants were 635 (133 men, 502 women) adults from a large southwestern United States university who identified as African American or Black. Ages ranged from 18 to 52 (Mage = 21.66 years). Participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires on hope, mindfulness, anxiety, social anxiety, and discrimination. Structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated that hope is associated with lower social fear when accounting for mindfulness and discrimination (β = - 0.14, C.I = - 0.24: - 0.03). Mindfulness is associated with lower anxiety (β = - 0.31, C.I = - 0.41: - 0.21), social fear (β = - 0.18, C.I = - 0.29: - 0.07), and social avoidance (β = - 0.22, C.I = - 0.34: - 0.10) when accounting for hope and discrimination. Discrimination is associated with higher anxiety (β = 0.28, C.I = 0.20:0.36), social fear (β = 0.31, C.I = 0.22:0.39), and social avoidance (β = 0.29, C.I = 0.20:0.37) when accounting for mindfulness and hope. Mindfulness had more robust protective qualities in the context of discrimination for anxiety and social anxiety than hope. The maladaptive relationships between discrimination and anxiety remained despite the presence of hope and mindfulness. Additional research is needed to identify strength-based approaches to protecting against and healing from experiences with discrimination among Black adults.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Psychotherapists' openness to engage their patients in Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for mental health treatment. Journal of Affective Disorders February 15, 2023
- A Digital Music-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Black Americans With Elevated Race-Based Anxiety: A Multiple-Baseline Pilot Study. JMIR Formative Research August 16, 2023
- The Role of Attentional Control in the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Anxiety Psychological Reports June 1, 2020
- The Experience of Racism on Behavioral Health Outcomes: The Moderating Impact of Mindfulness. Mindfulness January 2019
and 3 more in the library