4 - (SYM 56) Promoting Adaptive Emotion Regulation in Young People of Color Who Face Discrimination: A Self-guided Mindfulness App Approach

Background:  Young adults of color report experiencing daily instances of discrimination in their lives. Exposure to this chronic stressor is associated with increases in internalizing disorders. Mindfulness emerges as a potentially effective treatment, as it has been hypothesized to promote adaptative emotion regulation. However, young people of color are less likely to access this treatment compared with their White peers, and digital approaches could reduce this treatment gap. This study examined whether a low-intensity, digital mindfulness intervention effectively promotes adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as increases in cognitive reappraisal and reductions in emotion suppression.

Method:  Participants (n = 160, Mage = 22.28, 77% female, 43% Latinx, 32% Asian, 16% Black, 7% Multiracial, 2% Native American) who scored at least in the 75th percentile in the Multicultural Discrimination Module, received a self-guided, app-based mindfulness program for four weeks. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, which includes cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression subscales, was administered at baseline (week 0), mid-treatment (week 2), and post-treatment (week 4). Multilevel modeling was used in intention-to-treat analyses to test changes over time in cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression.

Results: There was a statistically significant increase in cognitive reappraisal from baseline to post-treatment (b = 2.45, t = 2.50, p = .01) but not from baseline to mid-treatment (b = 1.23, t = 1.29, p = .20) or from mid-treatment to post-treatment (b = 1.22, t = 1.27, p = .20). There was also a statistically significant decrease in emotion suppression from mid-treatment to post-treatment (b = -1.21, t = -2.02, p = .04) but not from baseline to mid-treatment (b = 0.17, t = 0.28, p = .78) or baseline to post-treatment (b = -1.05, t = -1.59, p = .11).

Conclusions:  These findings suggest that a self-guided, app-based mindfulness intervention can be effective in promoting adaptive emotion regulation strategies among young people of color who experience significant levels of discrimination. This intervention seemed to modify cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression late in treatment (i.e., in the second half or only after four weeks), a pattern of change that contrasts with other clinical outcomes examined in this study. Nevertheless, this low-intensity digital intervention holds promise to help young people of color cope with race-related stressors that affect their mental health.