Hope, Mindfulness, and Anxiety in the Context of Racial Discrimination Among Black Young Adults.

objectivesAnxiety 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.

methodsParticipants 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 (M

resultsStructural 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.

conclusionsMindfulness 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.