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Affective Reactivity Mediates an Inverse Relation Between Mindfulness and Anxiety

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Abstract

Little is known about the mechanisms through which mindfulness is related to psychological symptoms such as anxiety. One potential mechanism consists of individual differences in emotion-responding variables such as reactivity to aversive stimuli. The current research was designed to examine whether affective reactivity may act as a mechanism of mindfulness. Across two studies, an inverse relation between trait mindfulness (specifically, the Nonjudging of Inner Experience and Acting with Awareness factors of the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire) and chronic anxiety was partially mediated by affective reactivity, assessed with direct (self-report in study 1) and indirect (lexical decision task in study 2) measures. These results contribute to the understanding of the psychological mechanisms through which mindfulness works.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712, Groningen, Netherlands

    Brian D. Ostafin

  2. Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Dept. 2765, P.O. Box 6050, Fargo, ND, 58108, USA

    Jessica J. Brooks & Magali Laitem

Authors
  1. Brian D. Ostafin
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  2. Jessica J. Brooks
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  3. Magali Laitem
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian D. Ostafin.

Appendices

Appendix A

IAPS slides used in affect induction task.

Negative slides: 2800, 3150, 3170, 3230, 3350, 9040, 9300, 9405, 9561, 9594

Neutral slides: 2191, 2214, 2374, 5395, 7000, 7043, 7052, 7053, 7207, 7249

Appendix B

Stimuli used in the lexical decision task

Negative words: distressed, scared, upset, guilty, hostile, irritable, ashamed, nervous, jittery, afraid

Neutral words: bowl, chair, contents, door, errand, glacier, seat, theory, time, window

Nonwords: conclide, bos, fethom, fragmunt, luquid, meisure, parkying, tiste, wuekly, zune, tasp, botter, datest, flibby, hestage, lohe, pilmow, sikkness, triphy, violeat

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Ostafin, B.D., Brooks, J.J. & Laitem, M. Affective Reactivity Mediates an Inverse Relation Between Mindfulness and Anxiety. Mindfulness 5, 520–528 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0206-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0206-x

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