The Protective Role of Mindfulness in the Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and Depression
Open accessAbstract
This study examined the potential buffering role of trait mindfulness in the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample of racial and ethnic minority adults. Analyses conducted on 97 participants indicated that self-reported trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Individuals low in mindfulness experienced elevated depressive symptoms at high levels of discrimination. However, individuals high in mindfulness reported lower depressive symptoms at high levels of discrimination. Results remained robust when controlling for potential confounding effects of age, sex, and income. Results suggest mindfulness is an important individual difference that may confer resilience for racial and ethnic minority communities who experience disproportionate levels of discrimination-related stressors and health disparities. Findings point to the potential utility of interventions that target mindfulness as a modifiable skill that can be used specifically to cope with discrimination. Socio-cultural considerations for the use of mindfulness-based approaches in racial and ethnic minority communities are discussed.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Mindfulness may buffer the effects of discrimination stress on depression.
“mindfulness may buffer the effects of discrimination stress on depression (Shallcross & Spruill, 2018).”
From Dismantling Mindfulness-Based Programs: a Systematic Review to Identify Active Components of Treatment (2020) · cites this paper as Shallcross & Spruill, 2018
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Statistical power analyses using G∗Power 3.1: tests for correlation and regression analyses
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A.-G. (2009) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/brm.41.4.1149 · Cited by 37,615 · see citing works
An Analysis of Coping in a Middle-Aged Community Sample
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1980) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2136617 · Cited by 6,361 · see citing works
Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice.
Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.62.4.271 · Cited by 5,569 · see citing works
Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review.
Pascoe, E. A., & Smart Richman, L. (2009) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0016059 · Cited by 4,427 · see citing works
Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: results from the World Health Surveys
Moussavi, S., Chatterji, S., Verdes, E., Tandon, A., Patel, V., & Ustun, B. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61415-9 · Cited by 4,070 · see citing works
Discrimination and racial disparities in health: evidence and needed research
Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A. (2009) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-008-9185-0 · Cited by 3,371 · see citing works
Racial/Ethnic discrimination and health: findings from community studies
Williams, D. R., Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (2003) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.93.2.200 · Cited by 2,634 · see citing works
Kessler, R. C., Mickelson, K. D., & Williams, D. R. (1999) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2676349 · Cited by 2,233 · see citing works
The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: A meta-analytic review.
Schmitt, M. T., Branscombe, N. R., Postmes, T., & Garcia, A. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0035754 · Cited by 1,804 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…and longitudinal studies that support that discrimination and mindfulness predict depression instead of the other way around (Brown et al. 2000; Schmitt et al. 2014), future investigations should test the moderating effects of mindfulness in a longitudinal design whereby discrimination and…”
BackgroundKrieger, N., Smith, K., Naishadham, D., Hartman, C., & Barbeau, E. M. (2005) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.03.006 · Cited by 1,704 · see citing works
A systematic review of empirical research on self-reported racism and health
Paradies, Y. (2006) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyl056 · Cited by 1,681 · see citing works
Feldman, G., Hayes, A., Kumar, S., Greeson, J., & Laurenceau, J.-P. (2007) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-006-9035-8 · Cited by 1,630 · see citing works
Lara, M., Gamboa, C., Kahramanian, M. I., Morales, L. S., & Hayes Bautista, D. E. (2005) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144615 · Cited by 1,513 · see citing works
Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0018441 · Cited by 1,242 · see citing works
Lewis, T. T., Cogburn, C. D., & Williams, D. R. (2015) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032814-112728 · Cited by 1,003 · see citing works
Noh, S., & Kaspar, V. (2003) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.93.2.232 · Cited by 894 · see citing works
Weinstein, N., Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.008 · Cited by 874 · cited 1× · see citing works
“One specific emotion-focused strategy that has been shown across experimental (Weinstein et al. 2009) and clinical intervention (Fjorback et al. 2011) studies to be effective for coping with a range of stressful experiences is mindfulness, defined as deliberate and non-judgmental attentiveness to…”
BackgroundBrondolo, E., Brady ver Halen, N., Pencille, M., Beatty, D., & Contrada, R. J. (2009) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-008-9193-0 · Cited by 813 · cited 5× · see citing works
“It should be noted, however, that such strategies may not fall cleanly into one category or another (Brondolo et al. 2009).”
BackgroundInfluentialFjorback, L. O., Arendt, M., Ørnbøl, E., Fink, P., & Walach, H. (2011) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2011.01704.x · Cited by 803 · see citing works
Coping with Perceived Discrimination: Does Ethnic Identity Protect Mental Health?
Mossakowski, K. N. (2003) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/1519782 · Cited by 793 · see citing works
Noh, S., Beiser, M., Kaspar, V., Hou, F., & Rummens, J. A. (1999) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2676348 · Cited by 723 · see citing works
Everson, S. A., Maty, S. C., Lynch, J. W., & Kaplan, G. A. (2002) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(02)00303-3 · Cited by 687 · see citing works
Perceived Racism and Mental Health Among Black American Adults: A Meta-Analytic Review
Pieterse, A. L., Todd, N. R., Neville, H. A., & Carter, R. T. (2012) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0026208 · Cited by 649 · see citing works
Lau, A. S. (2006) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2006.00042.x · Cited by 624 · see citing works
Prevalence and clinical course of depression: a review
Richards, D. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.004 · Cited by 623 · see citing works
Glossary of terms relating to ethnicity and race: for reflection and debate
Bhopal, R. (2004) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.2003.013466 · Cited by 605 · see citing works
“Being black and feeling blue”: the mental health consequences of racial discrimination
Brown, T. N., Williams, D. R., Jackson, J. S., Neighbors, H. W., Torres, M. E., Sellers, S. L., & Brown, K. T. (2000) · Race and Society · doi:10.1016/s1090-9524(00)00010-3 · Cited by 532 · see citing works
Prevalence and Correlates of Everyday Discrimination among U.S. Latinos.
Pérez, D., Fortuna, L., & Alegría, M. (2008) · Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcop.20221 · Cited by 529 · see citing works
Schulz, A. J., Gravlee, C. C., Williams, D. R., Israel, B. A., Mentz, G. B., & Rowe, Z. E. (2006) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2005.064543 · Cited by 507 · see citing works
The prevalence of perceived discrimination among African American and Caribbean Black youth.
Seaton, E. K., Caldwell, C. H., Sellers, R. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2008) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0012747 · Cited by 506 · see citing works
Racial Discrimination, Coping, Life Satisfaction, and Self‐Esteem Among African Americans
Utsey, S. O., Ponterotto, J. G., Reynolds, A. L., & Cancelli, A. A. (2000) · Journal of Counseling & Development · doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb02562.x · Cited by 479 · see citing works
Cognitive reactivity to sad mood provocation and the prediction of depressive relapse
Segal, Z. V., Kennedy, S., Gemar, M., Hood, K., Pedersen, R., & Buis, T. (2006) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.63.7.749 · Cited by 470 · see citing works
Sawyer, P. J., Major, B., Casad, B. J., Townsend, S. S. M., & Mendes, W. B. (2012) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300620 · Cited by 435 · see citing works
Development and Validation of a Rasch-Derived CES-D Short Form.
Cole, J. C., Rabin, A. S., Smith, T. L., & Kaufman, A. S. (2004) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.16.4.360 · Cited by 401 · see citing works
Gendered racism, psychological distress, and coping styles of African American women.
Thomas, A. J., Witherspoon, K. M., & Speight, S. L. (2008) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/1099-9809.14.4.307 · Cited by 348 · see citing works
Agyemang, C., Bhopal, R., & Bruijnzeels, M. (2005) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.2005.035964 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Whaley, A. L. (2001) · Professional Psychology Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/0735-7028.32.6.555 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
"Hassles" in the conceptualization and measurement of life stress variables.
Dohrenwend, B. P., & Shrout, P. E. (1985) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.40.7.780 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Britton, W. B., Shahar, B., Szepsenwol, O., & Jacobs, W. J. (2012) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2011.08.006 · Cited by 268 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Second, mindfulness reduces biological sensitivity to threat (e.g., cognitive, physiological, and emotional reactivity) (Bergeron et al. 2016; Britton et al. 2012; Goldin and Gross 2010).”
BackgroundTaylor, T. R., Kamarck, T. W., & Shiffman, S. S. (2004) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15327558ijbm1102_4 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
González, P., Nuñez, A., Merz, E. L., Brintz, C., Birnbaum‐Weitzman, O., NAVAS, E. R., Camacho, A., Buelna, C., Penedo, F. J., Wassertheil‐Smoller, S., et al. (2016) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/pas0000330 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Soto, J. A., Dawson-Andoh, N. A., & BeLue, R. (2011) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.09.011 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Hays, P. A. (2009) · Professional Psychology: Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/a0016250 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Bynum, M. S., Burton, E. T., & Best, C. (2007) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/1099-9809.13.1.64 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Roth, B., & Robbins, D. (2004) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000097337.00754.09 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Gee, G. C., Delva, J., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2006) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2005.075739 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Wei, M., Alvarez, A. N., Ku, T., Russell, D. W., & Bonett, D. G. (2010) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0019969 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Fuchs, C., Lee, J. K., Roemer, L., & Orsillo, S. M. (2013) · Cognitive and Behavioral Practice · doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.12.004 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Bergin, A. J., & Pakenham, K. I. (2016) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0532-x · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Racism-related stress, Africultural coping, and religious problem-solving among African Americans.
Lewis, M. E. L., & Constantine, M. G. (2006) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/1099-9809.12.3.433 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Mossakowski, K. N., & Zhang, W. (2014) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0190272514534271 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Coping Responses and the Experience of Discrimination1
Thompson, V. L. S. (2006) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00038.x · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Discrimination, dispositions, and cardiovascular responses to stress.
Richman, L. S., Bennett, G. G., Pek, J. C. X., Suarez, E. C., Siegler, I. C., & Williams, R. B. (2007) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.26.6.675 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Seaton, E. K., Upton, R., Gilbert, A. N., & Volpe, V. V. (2013) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12122 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Boey (1999) · Pure Amsterdam UMC · doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199908)14:8 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Brown-Iannuzzi, J. L., Adair, K. C., Payne, B. K., Richman, L. S., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2013) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2013.09.015 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Graham, J. R., West, L. M., & Roemer, L. (2012) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0133-2 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Shallcross, A. J., Gross, J. J., Visvanathan, P. D., Kumar, N., Palfrey, A., Ford, B. Q., Dimidjian, S., Shirk, S., Holm-Denoma, J., Goode, K. M., et al. (2015) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/ccp0000050 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Self-citationStress, Depression and Coping among Latino Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers
Burke, S. C., Chaney, E. H., & Bethel, J. W. (2013) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph10051815 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Effect of emotional arousal on inter-temporal decision-making: an fMRI study
Sohn, J., Kim, H.-E., Sohn, S., Seok, J., Choi, D., & Watanuki, S. (2015) · Journal of PHYSIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · doi:10.1186/s40101-015-0047-5 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Fernández, A., & Loukas, A. (2013) · Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health · doi:10.1007/s10903-013-9952-z · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Assari, S., & Zadeh, E. M. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00178 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Hunte, H. E. R., King, K. E., Hicken, M. T., Lee, H. E., & Lewis, T. T. (2013) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-1084 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“Letting Go” (Implicitly): Priming Mindfulness Mitigates the Effects of a Moderate Social Stressor
Bergeron, C. M., Almgren-Doré, I., & Dandeneau, S. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00872 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Plummer DL Slane S 1996 Patterns of coping in racially stressful situations Journal of Black Psychology 22 3 302 315
- Simpson G Yinger M 1985 Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination New york Springer Science & Business Media
- Williams DR Yan Y Jackson JS Anderson NB 1997 Racial differences in physical and mental health: Socio-economic status, stress and discrimination Journal of Health Psychology 2 3 335 351 10.1177/135910539700200305 22013026 · DOI · Paper page
- Woods-Giscombé CL Gaylord SA 2014 The cultural relevance of mindfulness meditation as a health intervention for African Americans: Implications for reducing stress-related health disparities Journal of Holistic Nursing 32 3 147 160 10.1177/0898010113519010 24442592 PMC4102670 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Trait mindfulness is negatively associated with distress related to COVID-19
Dillard, A. J., & Meier, B. P. (2021) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110955 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Stein, E., & Witkiewitz, K. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01444-0 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
“Additionally, mindfulness may buffer the effects of discrimination stress on depression (Shallcross and Spruill 2018).”
BackgroundCognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R)
Feldman, G., Westine, M., Edelman, A., Higgs, M., Renna, M., & Greeson, J. (2022) · Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-77644-2_19-1 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
- Authors
- Shallcross, A. J., & Spruill, T. M.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shallcross, Amanda J.
- Venue
- Mindfulness
- Published
- 2017-11-04
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1100-1109
- ISSN
- 1868-8527 (ISSN-L)
- 1868-8535
- PMC
- PMC6097525
- OpenAlex
- W2767075077
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 4.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Mindfulness (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (5R21HL111967)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- trait mindfulness, perceived discrimination, depressive symptoms, racial and ethnic minorities, buffering effect, resilience, health disparities, mindfulness-based interventions, coping with discrimination
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
