The buffering effect of dispositional mindfulness on the relationships between adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and anxiety symptoms
Katelyn Shirley Lockinger
oURspace August 1, 2025 DOI: 10.82465/7684 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 579 |
| Population | Adults from the general population in English-speaking countries |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Key findings | ADHD symptoms were strongly positively correlated with depression and anxiety and strongly negatively correlated with dispositional mindfulness. Mindfulness did not moderate the ADHD–internalizing relationship overall, but the nonjudgmental facet did. Mind-wandering, rumination, emotional dysregulation, self-compassion, and nonattachment accounted for variance in depression and anxiety beyond ADHD symptoms. |
Abstract
Adults experiencing attention deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) symptoms are at an increased risk for experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, signalling a clear need to identify protective factors that may disrupt this association. The extant evidence suggests that overlapping risk mechanisms (e.g., mind-wandering, rumination, and emotional dysregulation) may contribute to the co-occurrence of these symptoms. In contrast, resilience mechanisms, such as dispositional mindfulness (DM), may buffer against depression and anxiety symptoms directly or indirectly via disruption of shared risk mechanisms or fortification of associated protective factors (e.g., self-compassion, nonattachment, and equanimity). However, there is a paucity of research which comprehensively evaluates DM in the context of elevated ADHD symptoms within the general population. Nor has DM been considered as a moderator of the association between ADHD symptoms and internalizing symptoms. Therefore, the primary objective of the present cross-sectional study was to explore the relationships between ADHD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and DM among a sample of adults from the general population. The secondary exploratory aim was to examine the potential protective effect of factors theoretically associated with DM (i.e., self-compassion, nonattachment, and equanimity) and overlapping risk mechanisms in the relationships between ADHD, depression, and anxiety symptoms. It was hypothesized that ADHD symptoms would be positively correlated with internalizing symptoms and negatively correlated with DM; DM would be negatively correlated with depression and anxiety symptoms; and DM would moderate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and depression and anxiety symptoms such that those with lower levels of DM will report more severe psychopathology than those reporting higher levels of DM. An online crowdsourcing platform (i.e., Prolific) was used to recruit 579 adults in English-Speaking countries for participation, which involved completing an anonymous survey consisting of a series of validated self-report measures. In support of the correlational hypotheses, ADHD symptoms were positively correlated with internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) and negatively correlated with DM. These correlations were large in magnitude. DM was also negatively associated with depression and anxiety symptoms, as predicted. However, the hypothesis that DM would moderate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and psychopathology was not supported. Exploratory moderation analyses revealed that the nonjudgmental aspect of DM was the only statistically significant moderator of the relationship between ADHD and internalizing symptoms. Exploratory regression analyses further illustrated that mind-wandering, rumination, emotional dysregulation, self-compassion, and nonattachment accounted for variance in depression and anxiety above and beyond ADHD symptoms. Overall, the results of this study may inform the development of targeted mindfulness-based interventions for people living with elevated ADHD symptoms. Keywords: ADHD, anxiety, depression, dispositional mindfulness, general population
Comparable studies
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| 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 |
| The Role of Mindfulness and Psychological Flexibility in Somatization, Depression, Anxiety, and General Psychological Distress in a Nonclinical College Sample Ethnically diverse, nonclinical sample of college undergraduates (76% female) | 2011 | Observational cross-sectional survey | n = 494 |
| 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 |
Citations in the library
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- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
and 38 more in the library