UCLA

Background: People of color (POC) who encounter race-related stressors are at risk of developing mental health problems, including high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Mindfulness meditation (MM) may be especially well suited to help POC cope, given its emphasis on gaining awareness and acceptance of emotions associated with discriminatory treatment. However, MM rarely reaches POC, and digital approaches could reduce this treatment gap by addressing traditional barriers to care. Objective: This randomized controlled trial tested the acceptability and effectiveness of a self-guided, app-based MM program for POC who experience elevated levels of race-related stress. Method: Participants (n = 155, Mage = 27.28, 82.6% female) were assigned to either the intervention group (n = 80) or a wait-list control condition (n = 75) using block randomization. Results: On average, participants in the intervention group used the app for 17.31 days, completed 23.37 sessions, and meditated 225.24 minutes, reporting high program acceptability and satisfaction. Analyses using multilevel modeling found greater reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression at mid-treatment and post-treatment among participants in the intervention group compared with their counterparts in the control group. Similarly, significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion, and significant decreases in experiential avoidance, rumination, and emotion suppression, were observed. Exploratory mediation analyses showed that hypothesized mechanisms of change in this intervention did not mediate change in outcomes. Conclusions: These findings support the acceptability and effectiveness of a brief, self-guided, app-based MM program for POC exposed to race-related stressors, a high-risk population often ignored in MM research.