A brief decentering-based mindfulness strategy reduces pandemic-related anxiety: A mixed-methods experiment

A brief mindfulness strategy called decentering—viewing thoughts as transient mental events—reduced anxiety about COVID-19 worries in a mixed-methods experiment with 316 non-meditators. Participants identified a pandemic-related worry, then listened to decentering or control instructions and applied them for one minute. Decentering lowered state anxiety compared to the control condition. Vividness of worry imagery predicted anxiety in the control group but not in the decentering group, suggesting the strategy weakened the link between imagery and anxiety. Qualitative analysis revealed some participants applied the instructions accurately while others misunderstood, reporting outcomes such as relaxation and reduced negative affect. The authors argue these findings may extend beyond the pandemic to other distressing contexts.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Decentering is a key component of mindfulness, conceptualised as a metacognitive insight into the transience of one’s mental experiences (Safran & Segal, 1990). In this preregistered mixed-methods experiment, we examined the effectiveness of a brief decentering-based mindfulness strategy in curbing anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 316; non-meditators) were instructed to identify a pandemic-related worry. They selected worries related to physical health, job insecurity, finances, education, loneliness, and the current and future impact of COVID-19. Participants then listened to decentering or control instructions, and in the main task, they applied these instructions to their worry for one minute. We measured state anxiety and vividness of worry imagery both before and after the main task. We also collected qualitative survey data on participants’ experiences of applying the instructions, and analysed these data using thematic analysis. The quantitative findings were in line with our hypothesis that imagery of pandemic-related worries positively predicted state anxiety in the control condition (β = 0.37, p < .001). Also as predicted, decentering reduced state anxiety compared to the control condition (β = -0.51, p < .001). The predicted interaction of vividness of worry imagery and condition was not significant when a composite pre- and post-task imagery score was used (β = -0.11, p = .099), but was significant in exploratory analyses using only the post-task imagery score (β = -0.20, p = .004). This suggests that decentering reduced the link between vivid worry imagery experienced during the task and anxiety experienced afterwards. Qualitative analyses showed that some participants applied an accurate version of the instructions, but others misunderstood the instructions. Participants reported a wide range of outcomes such as developing a different way of relating to experiences, relaxation, and reduced negative affect. Together, these findings provide evidence that the brief decentering-based mindfulness strategy studied here may be an effective way to reduce anxiety, and potentially to reduce the link between imagery and anxiety. These findings are applicable not only to the pandemic, but also to other distressing and unpredictable contexts.