Dispositional mindfulness in trauma recovery: Prospective relations and mediating mechanisms

Yaara Nitzan-Assayag, Idan M. Aderka, Amit Bernstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study examined the protective properties and candidate mediating processes (cognitive fusion and cognitive suppression) linking dispositional mindfulness to distal risk factors (negative affect, anxiety sensitivity, rumination) and psychopathology symptom outcomes (depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms) following trauma exposure. To do so, a community-based sample of adults was longitudinally studied in the six-months following exposure - within 30-days (T1), 3-months (T2), and 6-months (T3) - to a shared disaster-related potentially traumatic event (PTE). Specifically, we found that cognitive fusion predicted, and mediated, the effect of mindfulness on outcomes related to distress post-trauma including negative affect, depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Complementary to these effects, we found that cognitive suppression predicted, and mediated, the effect of mindfulness on distal risk factors linked to negative self-referential processes including rumination and anxiety sensitivity. Findings are discussed with respect to their theoretical and clinical implications for the potential role and mechanisms of mindfulness in recovery following trauma.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-32
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Anxiety Disorders
Volume36
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

  • Longitudinal
  • Mediation
  • Mindfulness
  • PTSD
  • Posttraumatic stress
  • Stress
  • Transdiagnostic
  • Trauma

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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