Preliminary evidence for a race-based stress reduction intervention for Black women at risk for cardiovascular disease

• Published in: Complementary therapies in medicine Vol. 58; p. 102710
• Main Authors: Saban, Karen L., Motley, Darnell, Shawahin, Lamise, Mathews, Herbert L., Tell, Dina, De La Pena, Paula, Janusek, Linda Witek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Scotland Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2021; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: African American; African Americans; Avoidance; Blood levels; C-reactive protein; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Coping; Cytokines; Diabetes; Discrimination; Empowerment; Ethnicity; Gender; Health disparities; Health risks; Hypertension; Inflammation; Intervention; Men; Mindfulness; Minority & ethnic groups; Perceived discrimination; Psychological stress; Race relations; Racial discrimination; Racial identity; Racial profiling; Racism; Reduction; Risk; Risk factors; Sexism; Stress; Tumor necrosis factor; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Womens health; Cardiovascular disease; Perceived discrimination; Coping; Cytokines; African American
• ISSN: 0965-2299; 1873-6963
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102710

•Racism and discrimination are associated with increased risk for disease.•Resilience, Stress, and Ethnicity (RiSE) is a race-based stress reduction program.•Those who participated in RiSE reported improved coping strategies.•Declines in inflammatory markers in RiSE participants approached statistical signficance.
Despite evidence that chronic stress, racism, and discrimination impact the well-being and the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Black women, there are few evidence-based interventions that improve well-being and reduce the risk for CVD in women of minority groups. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the psychobehavioral and anti-inflammatory benefit of a race-based stress reduction program “Resilience, Stress, and Ethnicity (RiSE) for Black women at risk for CVD. Methods: Black women were recruited from the Chicagoland community and randomized to either the 8-week RiSE intervention (n = 40) or control group (n = 34). Participants were assessed for coping strategies, psychological distress, and blood levels of TNF-alpha and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) at baseline and at 4 and 8 weeks after baseline. Results: Participation in RiSE was associated with a more rapid decline in the use of avoidance coping (b = -0.3585, SE = 0.1705, p < .01). Reductions over time in TNF-alpha (b = -0.0163, SE = .0087, p = .08) and hsCRP (b= -0.4064, SE = 0.2270, p = .08) approached statistical significance. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence in Black women at risk for CVD that RiSE contributes to decreases in avoidance coping. Although preliminary, these results suggest RiSE to be an effective intervention to promote improved coping associated with racism and discrimination in minorities.