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Trait mindfulness and psychological distress in college students: indirect associations via experiential avoidance
Gabriel Simerly1, Joshua Broman-Fulks1, Rose Mary Webb1
1Department of Psychology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA.
Objective:
This cross-sectional study examined whether the associations between trait mindfulness and psychological distress were consistent with indirect associations involving experiential avoidance (EA) among college students.
Participants:
The sample consisted of 289 undergraduate students (Mage = 18.7; 77% female).
Methods:
Participants completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Indirect effect models were estimated with bootstrapped confidence intervals.
Results:
Higher trait mindfulness was associated with lower EA, and higher EA was associated with greater depression, anxiety, and stress. Bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals for indirect effect estimates did not include zero across outcomes and EA measures, and direct associations between mindfulness and distress remained.
Conclusions:
These findings are consistent with psychological flexibility theory and suggest that EA is a relevant correlate of mindfulness-distress associations in college students. Longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to test temporal precedence and causal mechanisms.
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