Mindfulness, Interpretation Bias, and Levels of Anxiety and Depression: Two Mediation Studies
Birgit Mayer, Marike G. Polak, Danielle Remmerswaal
Mindfulness April 12, 2018 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-018-0946-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 319 |
| Population | Undergraduate students and convenience community sample |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Key findings | Interpretation bias mediated the relation between dispositional mindfulness and acceptance, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. |
Abstract
In two studies, a possible mediation effect was tested of cognitive interpretation bias in the relation between respectively dispositional mindfulness and acceptance, on the one hand, and symptoms of depression and anxiety, on the other hand. An undergraduate student sample (N = 133; 86% female, Mage = 19.8) and a convenience community sample (N = 186; 66% female, Mage = 36.5) were examined by means of an online questionnaire measuring dispositional mindfulness (FFMQ-SF; Study 1) and acceptance (AAQ-II; Study 2), anxiety (STAI-trait) and depressive (BDI-II) symptoms, and interpretation bias (with the interpretation bias task, IBT). Considering both studies, results showed consistently the expected relations of larger mindfulness skills going together with a smaller cognitive interpretation bias and lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. More interestingly, it was found that interpretation bias served as a mediator in the relations between respectively dispositional mindfulness and acceptance, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. With these findings, some more insight in the working mechanisms of mindfulness-based treatments on internalizing psychopathology has been obtained.