A mindful approach to understanding Black mothers' psychological functioning.

OBJECTIVES: We examined associations between Black mothers' discrimination experiences and psychological functioning (i.e., anxiety, depressive symptoms, and psychological well-being). In addition, we explored mindfulness and meditation frequency as moderators of these associations. METHOD: We analyzed data from a 2015 cross-sectional online study of 305 Black American mothers (Mage = 37, SD = 8.44). We ran three path analyses using Mplus (Version 8). RESULTS: Black mothers who experienced discrimination experienced higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and lower psychological well-being. Mindfulness was negatively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms and positively associated with psychological well-being. Meditation frequency was negatively associated with anxiety and positively associated with psychological well-being. There were no significant moderating effects. CONCLUSION: Mindfulness and meditation can compensate for negative associations between discrimination and Black mothers' psychological functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).