Racism's Effect on Attention Bias to Threat: Testing a Brief Mindfulness Intervention for Black Americans

University Of Louisville, Louisville KY

Investigators

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Race-related stress is a public health problem and known predictor of severe psychological symptoms in Black Americans. While there is a strong link between race-related stress and adverse mental health outcomes, little is known about the transdiagnostic mechanisms that explain how experiencing race-related stress can lead to psychological symptoms and what interventions may target these mechanisms. Our scientific premise is that race-related stress can lead to disproportionately allocating one’s attention to threatening stimuli (i.e., attention bias to threat), a known predictor of stress-related symptoms, and that this attention bias to threat can be modified by a brief, culturally-informed mindfulness intervention. We also posit that racial identity is a key individual difference factor that can shape the degree to which race-related stress influences attention bias to threat and the degree to which a mindfulness intervention mitigates these biases. We will recruit 200 Black adults from the community who have experienced race-related stress to complete a lab study to target three specific aims, which are to: 1) Use eye-tracking methods to examine if race-related stress (vs. non-race related stress) leads to greater attention bias to threat, 2) Test if a brief mindfulness meditation (vs. neutral audio) reduces attention bias to threat, and 3) Investigate if racial identity influences a) the effect of the race-related stress manipulation on attention bias to threat and b) the efficacy of the mindfulness manipulation on attention bias to threat. In addition, this project has a strong undergraduate training component designed to stimulate undergraduate students’ interest in research and provide both hands-on experiences and comprehensive mentorship needed for a successful research career. Overall, this project fills gaps in the literature by investigating how race-related stress affects threat-related attentional processes, whether such processes can be changed via a mindfulness intervention, and for whom such an intervention is most efficacious. We do so using a novel manipulation of race-related stress, identification of an objective psychological mechanism, reliable and precise assessment of attention bias using eye-tracking methods, and experimental manipulation of mindfulness, thus, addressing current limitations in this research area. Findings from this project will advance research on understanding and overcoming the pernicious psychological consequences of racism. Developing nuanced understandings of how race-related stress affects mental health and how it can be treated are vital steps in eliminating mental health disparities among historically marginalized and underserved communities.