“healing attempt”: a brief, digital music-based mindfulness intervention for Black Americans with elevated race-based anxiety

Abstract

Background: Race-based anxiety is a significant health issue for the Black community. Although mindfulness interventions have demonstrated efficacy for alleviating anxiety, three central barriers prevent Black Americans from accessing existing mindfulness treatments: high costs, excessive time commitments, and limited cultural relevance. There is a need for novel mindfulness interventions for the Black community that can overcome these barriers. Method: This dissertation used three online multiple-baseline studies to examine the efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability of a novel digital music-based mindfulness intervention called “healing attempt” for middle-to-low income Black Americans with elevated race-based anxiety. The intervention features contributions from Lama Rod Owens (world-renowned meditation teacher and L.A. Times best-selling author) and Terry Edmonds (former chief speechwriter for President Bill Clinton). All study visits were conducted on Zoom. I assessed effects of the intervention on state anxiety (i.e., momentary anxiety), mindfulness, and self-compassion. Additionally, I also assessed the feasibility and acceptability of “healing attempt” using study specific scales. Results: Across all three studies, the intervention led to significant decreases in state anxiety (All Studies) as well as significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion (Studies 2 & 3). The intervention also received high feasibility scores across virtually all major metrics (i.e., the average likelihood of recommending the intervention was 93 out of 100 across the three studies). Conclusion: These studies offer preliminary evidence that a digital, music-based mindfulness intervention can decrease race-based anxiety in Black Americans. Future research should test whether such interventions elicit lasting changes in race-based anxiety, test mechanisms of change, and explore the effectiveness of these interventions in real-world contexts.