Mindfulness and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in the General Population: The Mediating Roles of Worry, Rumination, Reappraisal and Suppression
F. Parmentier, Mauro Garcia-Toro, Javier García-campayo, A. Yáñez, P. Andrés, Margalida Gili
Frontiers in Psychology March 8, 2019 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00506 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey with path analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,151 |
| Population | International non-clinical adults, including meditators and non-meditators |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness is associated with lower depression and anxiety directly and indirectly through emotional regulation, with worry and rumination as the strongest mediators. |
Abstract
The present study examined the effects of mindfulness on depression and anxiety, both direct and indirect through the mediation of four mechanisms of emotional regulation: worry, rumination, reappraisal and suppression. Path analysis was applied to data collected from an international and non-clinical sample of 1151 adults, including both meditators and non-meditators, who completed an online questionnaire battery. Our results show that mindfulness are related to lower levels of depression and anxiety both directly and indirectly. Suppression, reappraisal, worry and rumination all acted as significant mediators of the relationship between mindfulness and depression. A similar picture emerged for the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety, with the difference that suppression was not a mediator. Our data also revealed that the estimated number of hours of mindfulness meditation practice did not affect depression or anxiety directly but did reduce these indirectly by increasing mindfulness. Worry and rumination proved to be the most potent mediating variables. Altogether, our results confirm that emotional regulation plays a significant mediating role between mindfulness and symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population and suggest that meditation focusing on reducing worry and rumination may be especially useful in reducing the risk of developing clinical depression.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychological flexibility mediates the relations between acute psychedelic effects and subjective decreases in depression and anxiety. International sample of people who reported having used a psychedelic | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 985 |
| The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms Internet survey respondents reporting challenging experiences with psilocybin | 2016 | Questionnaire development and validation | |
| Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study Adult population in the United States | 2013 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 130,152 |
| Ecstasy/MDMA attributed problems reported by novice, moderate and heavy recreational users Ecstasy users who participated in a WWW study of recreational drug use | 2002 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 282 |
| 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used in a naturalistic group setting is associated with unintended improvements in depression and anxiety. Adults who used 5-MeO-DMT in a group setting with structured procedures | 2019 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 362 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 52
- A Feasibility Study of a Program Integrating Mindfulness, Yoga, Positive Psychology, and Emotional Intelligence in Tertiary-Level Student Musicians Mindfulness September 29, 2022
- The effects of mindfulness-based techniques on self-rumination, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression among patients with major depression: a nursing perspective. Journal of Research in Nursing August 1, 2024
- Emotion Regulation as a Mechanism of Mindfulness in Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders. Depression and Anxiety 2024
- Mindfulness for Menopausal Women: Enhancing Quality of Life and Psychological Well-Being Through a Randomized Controlled Intervention. Journal of Nursing Scholarship July 1, 2025
- Dispositional Mindfulness and Psychotic Symptoms in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: The Mediating Roles of Rumination and Negative Emotion Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2022
and 47 more in the library
Cites 28
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
and 23 more in the library