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Using two modes of intervention delivery, the present study compared the effects of a cognitive defusion strategy with a thought distraction strategy on the emotional discomfort and believability of negative self-referential thoughts. One mode of intervention delivery consisted of a clinical rationale and training (i.e., Partial condition). The other mode contained a condition-specific experiential exercise with the negative self-referential thought in addition to the clinical rationale and training (i.e., Full condition). Nonclinical undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of five protocols: Partial-Defusion, Full-Defusion, Partial-Distraction, Full-Distraction, and a distraction-based experimental control task. The Full-Defusion condition reduced the emotional discomfort and believability of negative self-referential thoughts significantly more than other comparison conditions. The positive results of the Full-Defusion condition were also found among participants with elevated depressive symptoms.
The current study examined the relation of a commonly used measure of mindfulness (MindfulAttention Awareness Scale [MAAS]) and psychological flexibility (Acceptance and Action
Questionnaire [AAQ]) to mental health-related variables within an African American college sample. The study also examined these constructs as potential mediators of the link between selfconcealment and mental health variables. The AAQ did not show adequate internal consistency, and
thus was not used in subsequent analyses. Mindfulness was found to be a significant predictor of
mental health-related variables and mediated the relation between self-concealment and emotional
distress in stressful interpersonal situations (full mediation) and general psychological ill health (partial mediation). These results are suggestive that mindfulness may be useful to understand mental
health within African Americans college students, although additional research is clearly needed