Mindfulness and academic alienation among university students: the mediating roles of cognitive fusion and psychological resilience.
Bingying Duan, Shuting Liao, Huilin Wang
Frontiers in Psychology April 10, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1813062 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 569 |
| Population | Undergraduate students from three universities in Hunan Province, China |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | University students Psychological resilience Cognitive fusion Academic alienation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness was negatively associated with cognitive fusion and positively associated with psychological resilience; cognitive fusion was positively associated with academic alienation, and resilience was negatively associated with academic alienation. Cognitive fusion and psychological resilience mediated the association between mindfulness and academic alienation. |
Abstract
Introduction: Academic alienation has become an increasingly salient issue among university students, as it is closely related to students' engagement with learning and their psychological adjustment in academic contexts. Mindfulness has been widely discussed as a psychological characteristic associated with individuals' awareness and regulation of internal experiences, yet the processes linking mindfulness to academic alienation remain insufficiently examined. In particular, limited attention has been given to the potential roles of cognitive fusion and psychological resilience in shaping students' academic experiences.
Methods: A paper-based survey was administered to 569 undergraduate students from three universities in Hunan Province, China. Measures included mindfulness, cognitive fusion, psychological resilience, and academic alienation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted using IBM SPSS AMOS 26, with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) evaluating the measurement model. Indirect effects were tested via bootstrapping.
Results: Mindfulness showed a negative association with cognitive fusion and a positive association with psychological resilience. Cognitive fusion was positively associated with academic alienation and negatively associated with psychological resilience, whereas psychological resilience was negatively associated with academic alienation. Further analyses indicated that cognitive fusion and psychological resilience mediated the association between mindfulness and academic alienation.
Conclusion: The findings offer insight into the psychological processes associated with university students' experiences in academic settings. By highlighting the relevance of cognitive and resilience-related factors in relation to academic alienation, the results help clarify how students' internal psychological functioning may be linked to their engagement with learning. These observations may inform future research examining students' academic adjustment and well-being.
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 6
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- The relationship between trait mindfulness and resilience: A meta-analysis. Personality and mental health March 23, 2023
- Salutary proximal processes and distal mood and anxiety vulnerability outcomes of mindfulness training: a pilot preventive intervention. Behavior Therapy September 2012
and 1 more in the library