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This study evaluated associations between general (negative affectivity) and specific (anxiety sensitivity) factors that may relate to the mindfulness skill domains assessed by the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills. Participants were 154 young adults (88 females; M(age) = 22.4 years, SD = 7.9) recruited from the community. Partially consistent with predictions, higher levels of negative affectivity were significantly associated with lower levels of Awareness, Acceptance, and Describe mindfulness skills, and higher levels of anxiety sensitivity were significantly associated with lower levels of Awareness and Acceptance mindfulness skills. Additionally, negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity each demonstrated unique relations to participants' ability to experience the present state without evaluating or judging its content (Accept factor), after accounting for their shared variance, but only anxiety sensitivity demonstrated a unique association to the Act with Awareness factor independent of variance explained by negative affectivity. Findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on mindfulness processes.
This investigation examined the interaction of disengagement coping with HIV/AIDS-related stigma and mindful-based attention and awareness in regard to anxiety and depressive symptoms among people with HIV/AIDS. There was a significant interaction in regard to anxiety symptoms. Higher levels of disengagement coping paired with lower levels of mindful-based attention and awareness was related to the greatest degrees of anxiety symptoms, while lower levels of disengagement coping paired with higher levels of mindful-based attention and awareness was related to the lowest levels of anxiety symptoms. Although the interaction for depressive symptoms was not significant, a similar pattern of results was observed.
We examined specific mindfulness skills (observing, describing, acting with awareness, accepting without judgment, as measured by the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills, in terms of anxiety-related cognitive processes among adult daily smokers (n = 90; 43 females; Mage = 26.6 years, SD = 11.8). Partially consistent with hypotheses, describing and accepting without judgment were each shown to significantly predict perceived control over anxiety-related events. The observed significant effects were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by gender, smoking rate, and negative affectivity. Although observing also was shown to significantly predict agoraphobic cognition, it was in the opposite direction as was theoretically expected. No evidence of incremental validity for mindfulness skills was evident for anxiety sensitivity. These data highlight the potential explanatory relevance of only specific mindfulness skills in terms of only certain anxiety-based cognitive processes among adult daily smokers.
The current study examined cognitive factors that may be relevant to understanding anxiety and worry about bodily sensations among an HIV/AIDS population. Specifically, this investigation tested the main and interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity and mindful attention on anxious arousal, bodily vigilance, interoceptive fear, and HIV symptom distress among 164 adults with HIV/AIDS. Results indicated that anxiety sensitivity was positively related to anxious arousal, bodily vigilance, and interoceptive fear, but not HIV symptom distress. Mindful attention was negatively related to anxious arousal, interoceptive fear, and HIV symptom distress, but not bodily vigilance. These main effects for anxiety sensitivity and mindful attention were evident after controlling for disease stage, years with HIV, and demographic variables. There were no interactive effects between anxiety sensitivity and mindful attention. Results are discussed in terms of the clinical implications for identifying and treating anxiety and worry about bodily sensations among adults with HIV/AIDS. Limitations of this study include the use of cross-sectional data and self-report assessments.
The present investigation sought to examine the interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity [AS; Reiss, S., & McNally, R. J. (1985). Expectancy model of fear. In S. Reiss, & R. R. Bootzin (Eds.), Theoretical issues in behavior therapy (pp. 107-121). San Diego: Academic Press] and mindfulness [Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefit of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848] in predicting panic-relevant processes. A community sample of 248 individuals participated in the study by completing a battery of self-report instruments. Consistent with prediction, the interaction between AS and mindfulness significantly predicted anxious arousal symptoms and agoraphobic cognitions, above and beyond the individual main effects, and did not significantly predict anhedonic depression symptoms. Contrary to prediction, the AS by mindfulness interaction did not significantly predict body vigilance. Theoretical implications are discussed and future directions are delineated.