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We tested whether reduced thought suppression and reactivity to thought content (i.e., cognitive defusion) mediate the effects of a four-session mindfulness training intervention on clinical outcomes important to recovery in a general community-sample of adults (N = 38) recently exposed to potentially traumatic event (PTE). Thought suppression mediated the effects of mindfulness training on all studied distal risk factors and symptom outcomes—anxiety sensitivity, rumination, and negative affect, as well as posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms. Cognitive defusion mediated the effects of mindfulness training on anxiety sensitivity, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, but not rumination or depression symptoms. Thus, we found that reduced reactivity to and reduced suppression of thoughts mediated the effects of mindfulness training on recovery outcomes following exposure to PTE. Findings are discussed with respect to their theoretical and clinical implications for the potential role and mediating mechanisms of mindfulness in recovery following trauma.
The present study evaluated the effect of a brief mindfulness-based preventive intervention on (a) dispositional (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003) and state (SMS; Tanay & Bernstein, 2010) mindfulness; (b) putative proximal factors/processes engendered through the development of mindfulness, including increased decentering (EQ-D; Fresco et al., 2007) and reduced experiential avoidance (AAQ; Hayes et al., 2004); and (c) distal mood and anxiety vulnerability factors, including reduced depression-related dysfunctional attitudes, (DAS; de Graaf, Roelofs, & Huibers, 2009), anxiety sensitivity (ASI-3; Taylor et al., 2007), and negative affectivity (PANAS-NA; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) among a university-community sample in Israel. Fifty-three adult participants between the ages of 20 and 52 (M(age)=25.2 years, SD(age)=4.3 years; 65.4% women) were recruited from the Haifa University community. Nineteen participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition (M(age)=25.3 years, SD(age)=4.3 years; 66% women) and studied prospectively over the course of a four-session (21-day) mindfulness skills training intervention; and 34 participants were randomly assigned to a no-intervention (control) condition (M(age)=24.9 years, SD(age)=2.4years; 64.7% women) and studied prospectively. Findings demonstrate statistically robust and clinically significant relations between mindfulness and the theorized proximal and distal mood and anxiety vulnerability factors. Findings are discussed with respect to their theoretical implications for better understanding mindfulness-psychopathology vulnerability relations, clinical implications for larger-scale universal and selective transdiagnostic prevention efforts, and future directions for this area of research.