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African American Women’s Perceptions of Mindfulness Meditation Training and Gendered Race-Related Stress

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Abstract

African American women experience stress-related outcomes due to race and gender (i.e., gendered race-related stress). Mindfulness meditation training (MMT), an intervention that facilitates increased self-regulation of stress, may reduce the effect of gendered race-related stress on African American women’s psychological and physical health. However, little is known about the perceived benefits and barriers African American women associate with MMT. The current study used the Health Belief Model to investigate how African American women’s (a) severity of symptoms, (b) expected benefits of MMT, and (c) perceived barriers to MMT contributed to their interest in MMT. Data from 12 African American women were analyzed with qualitative thematic analysis. Women reported a need for MMT given their gendered race-related stress experiences. Perceived benefits of MMT included easy accessibility, fit with existing daily activities, and positive health outcomes. Perceived barriers to use of MMT were incongruence with African American culture, stigma, caretaking tensions, and extensive time commitment. Themes are discussed with respect to their implications for increasing MMT engagement among African American women.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Bruce Barrett, M.D., Ph.D. for his feedback on earlier drafts of this manuscript. This study was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the National Institutes of Health, grant T32AT006956. This project was also supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, through the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), grant UL1TR000427. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Natalie N. Watson & Carla D. Hunter

  2. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Wisconsin, 1100 Delaplaine Ct, Madison, WI, 53715, USA

    Angela R. Black

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  1. Natalie N. Watson
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  2. Angela R. Black
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Correspondence to Natalie N. Watson.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Watson, N.N., Black, A.R. & Hunter, C.D. African American Women’s Perceptions of Mindfulness Meditation Training and Gendered Race-Related Stress. Mindfulness 7, 1034–1043 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0539-3

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