Awareness as a key component of mindfulness reduces psychological stress in adolescents: Evidence from multi-method studies.

Both awareness and acceptance are linked to lower psychological stress in adolescents, but awareness alone may be more beneficial than combining it with acceptance. A survey of 3,304 adolescents found that both traits were negatively associated with stress, with awareness showing a stronger relationship. A randomized trial with 304 adolescents assigned to an awareness group, an awareness-plus-acceptance group, or control groups found that the awareness group reduced stress more than the combined group (effect size d = -0.23) and the blank control (d = -0.56). A third observational study of 111 adolescents indicated that conflict monitoring—a component of attention control—partly explains how awareness reduces stress.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The components of mindfulness include awareness and acceptance. However, the effects of awareness and acceptance on psychological stress in adolescents remain controversial, and the underlying cognitive processes less attention. Therefore, this study aimed to examine their independent effects, and the relevant cognitive processes. A cross-sectional survey study (Study 1, N = 3304, Mage = 15.53 years) employed regression models to examine the relationships between awareness, acceptance, and psychological stress. A randomized controlled trial (Study 2, N = 304, Mage = 15.07 years) was conducted by randomly assigning participants to four groups: an awareness group (MA), an awareness and acceptance group (MA + A), an active control group (AC), and a blank control group (BL). Study 2 aimed to examine the effects of awareness and acceptance on adolescents' psychological stress. A cross-sectional observational study (Study 3, N = 111, Mage = 16.77 years) was conducted to examine the non-temporal mediating role of attention control. Study 1 indicated that both awareness and acceptance were negatively associated with psychological stress, with awareness showing a stronger negative relationship. Study 2 showed that adolescents' psychological stress improved in both the MA and MA + A groups, with the MA group showing a more significant reduction than both the MA + A (d = -0.23) and BL groups (d = -0.56). Study 3 showed that conflict monitoring of attention control played a non-temporal mediating role in the relationship between awareness and psychological stress in adolescents. This study emphasizes the importance of awareness and conflict monitoring in developing mindfulness-based stress reduction programs for adolescents.