A Digital Music-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Black Americans With Elevated Race-Based Anxiety: A Multiple-Baseline Pilot Study

Abstract

Background Race-based anxiety is a substantial 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. Objective The goal of this web-based study was to examine the preliminary efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability of a novel digital music-based mindfulness intervention for middle-to-low-income Black Americans with elevated race-based anxiety. Methods This study used a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design (n=5). The intervention featured contributions from Lama Rod Owens (a world-renowned meditation teacher and LA Times best-selling author) and Terry Edmonds (the former chief speechwriter for President Bill Clinton). We examined the effect of the intervention on state anxiety and assessed its feasibility and acceptability using quantitative and qualitative measures. Results Results revealed that administration of the intervention led to significant decreases in state anxiety (Tau-U range –0.75 to –0.38; P values<.001). Virtually all feasibility and acceptability metrics were high (ie, the average likelihood of recommending the intervention was 98 out of 100). Conclusions This study offers preliminary evidence that a digital music-based mindfulness intervention can decrease race-based anxiety in Black Americans. Future research is needed to replicate these results, test whether the intervention can elicit lasting changes in anxiety, assess mechanisms of change, and explore the efficacy of the intervention in real-world contexts.

A Brief, Digital Music-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Black Americans With Elevated Race-Based Anxiety and Little-to-No Meditation Experience (“healing attempt"): Replication and Extension Study

“…Consistent with our hypothesis, we found evidence that “healing attempt” decreased anxiety and increased mindfulness/self-compassion in our sample; additionally, the intervention received strong feasibility and acceptability ratings as well. These results are in line with our prior 2 feasibility studies of “healing attempt,” which also found the intervention to decrease state anxiety and increase mindfulness/self-compassion with high feasibility and acceptability [ 30 , 31 ]. Thus, this study adds to the evidence that “healing attempt” may be a feasible intervention for race-based anxiety in the Black community and inspires future research to more deeply investigate this possibility.…”

“…Our team previously conducted 2 studies examining the feasibility of “healing attempt” for treating race-based anxiety in Black Americans [ 30 , 31 ]. Both prior studies used a multiple baseline design consisting of repeatedly assessing state anxiety (ie, momentary anxiety) and state mindfulness/self-compassion and comparing changes in these metrics across two time-periods: (1) an initial baseline period with no intervention (ie, the “control” period) and (2) an experimental period where the intervention is administered [ 32 ].…”

“…Both prior studies used a multiple baseline design consisting of repeatedly assessing state anxiety (ie, momentary anxiety) and state mindfulness/self-compassion and comparing changes in these metrics across two time-periods: (1) an initial baseline period with no intervention (ie, the “control” period) and (2) an experimental period where the intervention is administered [ 32 ]. The initial study (N=5) recruited middle-to-low income Black Americans (<US $50,000/year) experiencing elevated race-based anxiety, and the study demonstrated that “healing attempt” alleviated anxiety with high feasibility and acceptability (eg, the average likelihood of recommending the intervention was 98 out of 100) [ 30 ]; the second study (N=8) replicated these findings (ie, decrease in state anxiety and high feasibility scores) and additionally found that the intervention simultaneously increased mindfulness/self-compassion [ 31 ].…”

A Digital Music-Based Mindfulness Intervention (“healing attempt”) for Race-Based Anxiety in Black Americans

“…We replicated and extended our initial findings and showed that "healing attempt" can improve anxiety and mindfulness/self-compassion with high feasibility/acceptability [8]. Congruent with the existing literature, the observed improvements in mindfulness/self-compassion may have driven the reductions in anxiety [2,9].…”

A Brief, Digital Music-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Black Americans With Elevated Race-Based Anxiety and Little-to-No Meditation Experience (“healing attempt"): Replication and Extension Study (Preprint)

“…Our team previously conducted 2 studies examining the feasibility of "healing attempt" for treating race-based anxiety in Black Americans [30,31]. Both prior studies used a multiple baseline design consisting of repeatedly assessing state anxiety (ie, momentary anxiety) and state mindfulness/self-compassion and comparing changes in these metrics across two time-periods:…”