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Dispositional mindfulness has been shown to protect against affective symptoms in the general population. However, very little is known about whether and how these benefits may extend to a particularly high-risk period for affective distress—the postpartum. In this study, we tested within-person and between-person associations between maternal mindfulness and symptoms of anxiety and depression across the first 18 months postpartum. We further investigated whether mindfulness moderated the effect of life stress on mothers’ symptoms. Participants were 89 mothers from a larger longitudinal study on mother-infant stress regulation. Mothers completed self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness, life stress, anxiety, and depression at 3, 6, 12, and 18-months postpartum. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to assess the impact of mindfulness and life stress on both symptom trajectories and deviations from those trajectories over time. Absolute levels of maternal mindfulness predicted lower maternal depression symptoms at 18 months, and relative increases in mindfulness predicted concurrent decreases in both anxiety and depression symptoms over time. There was no evidence for moderated effects; rather, life stress related independently to anxiety and depression. Implications for understanding mindfulness as a dynamic construct and potential applications to improving postpartum mental health are discussed.
While the regulation of stress is usually thought of as an intrapersonal process, research suggests that relational factors such as attachment anxiety and avoidance play an influential role in stress regulation. Mindfulness, the process of intentionally paying attention to present moment experiences in a nonjudgmental way, has been associated with both enhanced romantic attachment security and stress regulation, though the precise role of attachment in mindfulness–stress paths remains unclear. The current study explores (1) the association between mindfulness and romantic partners’ physiological and subjective stress responses to a relationship conflict discussion and (2) the role of attachment anxiety and avoidance in statistically mediating that association. Heterosexual couples (n = 114 dyads) completed self-report measures of mindfulness and attachment approximately 1 week prior to a lab session involving a conflict discussion task. Participants rated state positive and negative affect and stress appraisals following the discussion, and five saliva samples were collected for cortisol assay to measure physiological stress. Results supported the proposed mediational model, with significant indirect effects of total mindfulness scores on stress outcomes through attachment. Specifically, mindfulness is related to lower cortisol levels during the conflict discussion via lower attachment avoidance and predicted less negative affect and more positive cognitive appraisals following the conflict discussion via lower attachment anxiety.