Mindfulness and COVID-19-Related Stress: Staying Present During Uncertain Times

• Published in: Mindfulness Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 1135 - 1147
• Main Authors: Polizzi, Craig P., Sleight, Fiona G., Aksen, Damla E., McDonald, Charlie W., Lynn, Steven Jay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.05.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anxiety; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Coping; COVID-19; Emotional regulation; Intervention; Mindfulness; Original Paper; Pandemics; Pediatrics; Psychology; Public Health; Social distancing; Social Sciences; Stress; COVID-19-related stress; Mindfulness; Observing; Nonjudging; Acting with awareness
• ISSN: 1868-8527; 1868-8535
• DOI: 10.1007/s12671-023-02132-5

Objectives The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic is recognized as a mass traumatic event in which COVID-19-related stress (CS) can indicate other trauma- and/or stressor-related disorder. The facets of mindfulness (observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting) have been linked to reductions in stress-related symptoms and thus may protect against CS. We extended previous research by evaluating mindfulness facets as resilience skills negatively related to CS. Method Undergraduate students ( n  = 495) completed an online battery of questionnaires. A subsample of students endorsing clinically elevated CS ( n  = 165) was also evaluated. We utilized hierarchical regression to account statistically for the mindfulness facets in addition to indicators of psychological distress (e.g., negative affect, neuroticism, dissociation) and social desirability. We performed analyses twice, once in the overall sample, and once in the high CS subsample. Results Less observing and greater nonjudging related to reduced CS while other study variables were controlled for in the overall sample. In contrast, acting with awareness and nonjudging negatively related to CS in the subsample, but were not related to CS when we accounted for psychological-distress variables that positively related to CS in the analysis. Conclusions Although variables indicative of psychological distress robustly contribute to CS, observing, acting with awareness, and nonjudging may be mindfulness skills that can be targeted to buffer clinically significant CS. Preregistration This study was not pre-registered.