Date of Award

8-2027

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

School

Psychology

Committee Chair

Austen Anderson

Committee Chair School

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Eric Dahlen

Committee Member 2 School

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Bonnie Nicholson

Committee Member 3 School

Psychology

Committee Member 4

Lisa Diamond

Abstract

Sexual and gender minority individuals (SGM) often experience increased stress, marginalization, and more frequent experiences with discrimination relative to their heterosexual and cisgender peers (Meyer, 2003). These experiences have been shown to contribute to several well-documented mental health disparities (Miranda-Mendizábal et al., 2017). Emerging evidence suggests that app-based mindfulness interventions have been shown to reduce stress and improve aspects of mental health among the general population (Cook et al., 2022) but, the implementation and utilization of app-based mindfulness in SGM individuals remains in infancy. As such, this study aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a fourteen-day app-based mindfulness intervention, and the barriers and facilitators associated with engagement in the intervention among sexual and gender minority individuals. Eighteen SGM adults were recruited online via Prolific to participate in this mixed-method study. The present study provides encouraging quantitative and qualitative evidence supporting the feasibility and acceptability of an app-based mindfulness intervention among SGM individuals. Six qualitative themes emerged which can all be related to barriers and facilitators of engagement in app-based mindfulness among SGM individuals. The first two themes represent pure facilitators of engagement (Theme 1: Mindfulness is perceived as an effective self-regulation skill and Theme 2: App-based mindfulness “comes in all different shapes and sizes and lengths”). The next three themes contain features of both facilitators and barriers to engagement (Theme 3: Mindfulness and sleep are interdependent; Theme 4: “If my mental health were to get worse… I would use mindfulness more”; and Theme 5: Perceived competence impacts engagement in mindfulness). The final theme (Theme 6: Lack of time and routine limit use of app-based mindfulness) is indicative of barriers to engagement in app-based mindfulness. Finally, preliminary evidence suggests that app-based mindfulness can be effective for increasing overall well-being and mindfulness among SGM individuals. Future research should rigorously examine whether digital mindfulness interventions can reduce the impact of minority stress and improve SGM mental health via low cost and highly accessible digital health platforms to adequately address the unique needs of this group.

ORCID ID

0000-0003-0262-5381

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Available for download on Sunday, August 01, 2027

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