The Experience of Racism and Anxiety Symptoms in an African-American Sample: Moderating Effects of Trait Mindfulness
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The Experience of Racism and Anxiety Symptoms in an African-American Sample: Moderating Effects of Trait Mindfulness Jessica R. Graham & Lindsey M. West & Lizabeth Roemer
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Abstract The current study explores the potential buffering effect of trait mindfulness on the impact of racism on anxiety symptomology in an African-American sample. Fiftyseven participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, trait mindfulness, and experience of racist events. Results indicated that trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal. Specifically, the relationship between past-year frequency of racist events and anxious arousal was significantly positive at low levels of trait mindfulness and not significant at high levels of trait mindfulness. The clinical implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed. Keywords Mindfulness . Anxiety . African-American . Racism . Discrimination
found a 24.7 % lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders in Black populations (Breslau et al. 2006). Additionally, Breslau et al. (2004) found anxiety disorders to be more persistent in individuals who are identified as Black when compared to other racial groups. While there has been research exploring the presence of anxiety symptoms in Black populations, little research has examined the culturally specific stressors that might contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety in this population or potential buffering factors. The present study sought to examine the relationship between racism (a potential stressor), mindfulness (a potential buffering factor), and anxiety symptomology in a sample of African-American individuals. We focused on two types of clinically relevant anxious symptoms, general anxiety (tension and worry) and anxious arousal (symptoms related to physiological arousal associated with autonomic activation). Racism and Mental Health
Introduction Anxiety disorders are among the most frequently diagnosed mental disorders in the USA (Kessler et al. 2005a, b). Given the high lifetime prevalence rates of anxiety disorders in the general population, it makes sense to begin exploring the nature and treatment of anxiety disorders in diverse populations. A replication of the National Comorbidity study J. R. Graham (*) : L. Roemer Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA e-mail: [email protected] L. M. West Education Discovery Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA, USA
Racism has been defined as beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and institutional and systemic approaches that degrade or belittle people or groups based on the color of their skin or ethnoracial background (Clark et al. 1999). The frequency and negative effects of racism on the lives of Black individuals are far
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