The effects of mantra meditation and religious orientation on psychological distress and self -actualization among Vietnamese American Buddhists

Since Vietnamese refugees are an often underserved population who face a myriad of psychosocial difficulties, research and intervention must attend to their specific needs and available resources. In an attempt to do so, this study examined the factor structure of the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) and the correlation of mantra meditation, religious orientation, and the interaction thereof to psychological distress and self-actualization. Participants were 169 Buddhists between the ages of 18 and 91 from a community center and a temple. Cross-sectional data were gathered using the ROS, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Personal Orientation Inventory, the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identification Scale, and constructed meditation and demographic questionnaires. Results indicated ROS items loaded onto separate Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors; however, there was no distinction between Personal and Social secondary gains. Results also revealed that the least psychological distress was reported by those who were more culturally traditional, those who were indiscriminately proreligious, and those with a strong intrinsic orientation. When mindfulness to the present was used as an indicator of self-actualization, westernized individuals and those with a weaker extrinsic orientation scored as healthiest. When increased reactivity to internalized principles and motivations was used as an indicator of self-actualization, westernized individuals, indiscriminately proreligious individuals, and those a weaker intrinsic orientation scored as healthiest. The examination of the interaction between mantra meditation and religious orientation showed that a strong extrinsic orientation among experienced mantra meditators was correlated with less distress and more self-actualization. The current study ameliorated the paucity of research on mantra meditation within a religious context by supporting the notion of a 12-month practice period during which time nonmeditators and inexperienced meditators were psychometrically indistinguishable, showing that the indiscriminately proreligious label unexpectedly conferred protection among this ethnic minority sample, and exposing the powerful confounding relationships of practice regularity, concentration levels during mantra use, and acculturation. Future research should employ true experimental design with random assignment to treatment conditions to render causal relationships. A prospective design exceeding 12 months and focusing on the label of indiscriminately proreligious among ethnically- and religiously-diverse cohorts would be optimal.