Self-compassion and mindfulness in relation to mind wandering: indirect associations mediated by negative affect.
Frontiers in Psychology December 11, 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1687442 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 168 |
| Population | Japanese university and graduate students (105 women; mean age 21.3 years, SD 2.9) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Self-compassion and dispositional mindfulness were both negatively associated with mind wandering, and negative affect (but not positive affect) statistically mediated these associations. The indirect association via negative affect appeared somewhat larger for self-compassion than for dispositional mindfulness, though the authors did not formally test this difference and describe the findings as preliminary and correlational. |
Abstract
Previous studies using mindfulness training interventions have shown that such training can reduce mind wandering, and this has often been attributed to improvements in executive functions. Instead of focusing on executive functions, the present cross-sectional study examined how affect is involved in the associations of self-compassion and dispositional mindfulness with mind wandering. We used multiple mediation analyses to investigate how self-compassion and dispositional mindfulness are related to mind wandering through positive and negative affect. A web-based survey was conducted with 168 Japanese university and graduate students (105 women; mean age = 21.3 years, SD = 2.9). Self-compassion and dispositional mindfulness were both negatively associated with negative affect and mind wandering. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that negative affect, but not positive affect, statistically mediated the associations of self-compassion and dispositional mindfulness with mind wandering. Descriptively, the indirect association via negative affect appeared somewhat larger for self-compassion than for dispositional mindfulness, although we did not formally test the difference between these indirect paths. These preliminary correlational findings suggest that higher self-compassion and higher dispositional mindfulness may be related to less mind wandering, partly through lower negative affect. In addition, the present results provide preliminary groundwork for future intervention studies that directly compare the effects of self-compassion training and mindfulness training on mind wandering via reductions in negative affect.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cites 15
- 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
- Loving-kindness and compassion meditation: potential for psychological interventions. Clinical Psychology Review July 26, 2011
- Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. Emotion February 6, 2012
- Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators The Journal of Positive Psychology April 11, 2012
and 10 more in the library