The relationship between anxiety and mindfulness: The role of mindfulness facets, implicit anxiety, and the problem of measuring anxiety by self-report

Mindfulness and anxiety show a robust, moderate to high negative association. Facets of mindfulness related to acceptance contribute strongly to this relationship, while awareness-related facets play a less clear, possibly contradictory role. The level of mindfulness may confound self-report assessments of anxiety and other constructs, as indicated by the inclusion of implicit anxiety measures alongside self-report instruments. The findings are based on a general population sample using three mindfulness questionnaires and two self-report and two implicit anxiety measures.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Although mindfulness interventions are increasingly used for coping with excessive anxiety, the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety is not yet clear. The study focused on this relationship. On a sample drawn from the general population, three mindfulness questionnaires were utilized. Anxiety was assessed by means of two self-report instruments as well as by two implicit anxiety measures. The latter were included because of the possibility that mindfulness might correlate with measurement error in measuring anxiety by self-report, which would cause biased results. A robust, moderate to high negative association was established between mindfulness and anxiety. Mindfulness facets related to acceptance contributed strongly to this relationship, while the role of awareness-related facets of mindfulness appeared to be less clear, seemingly contradictory and possibly two-fold. The study also suggested that level of mindfulness might indeed represent a confounding variable in self-report assessment of anxiety and probably of other constructs as well.