Using Mindfulness- and Acceptance-Based Treatments With Clients From Nondominant Cultural and/or Marginalized Backgrounds: Clinical Considerations, Meta-Analysis Findings, and Introduction to the Special Series: Clinical Considerations in using Acceptance

A growing body of research suggests that mindfulness- and acceptance-based principles can increase efforts aimed at reducing human suffering and increasing quality of life. A critical step in the development and evaluation of these new approaches to treatment is to determine the acceptability and efficacy of these treatments for clients from nondominant cultural and/or marginalized backgrounds. This special series brings together the wisdom of clinicians and researchers who are currently engaged in clinical practice and treatment research with populations who are historically underrepresented in the treatment literature. As an introduction to the series, this paper presents a theoretical background and research context for the papers in the series, highlights the elements of mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments that may be congruent with culturally responsive treatment, and briefly outlines the general principles of cultural competence and responsive treatment. Additionally, the results of a meta-analysis of mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments with clients from nondominant cultural and/or marginalized backgrounds are presented. Our search yielded 32 studies totaling 2,198 clients. Results suggest small (Hedgesʹ g = .38, 95% CI = .11 – .64) to large (Hedgesʹ g = 1.32, 95% CI = .61 – 2.02) effect sizes for mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments, which varied by study design.