Experiential avoidance mediates the relation between mindfulness and anxiety
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Mindfulness may help individuals tolerate and approach their emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations more openly, reducing efforts to escape from negative experiences through avoidance and suppression.
“mindfulness may help individuals tolerate and approach their emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations more openly, reducing the conscious or unconscious efforts to escape from negative experiences through avoidance and suppression [70–74].”
From Emotion Regulation as a Mechanism of Mindfulness in Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders (2024) · cites this paper as [70]
Less experiential avoidance, less affective reactivity, higher emotional intelligence, and higher emotional regulation account for the inverse relation between mindfulness and anxiety.
“Less experiential avoidance42, less affective reactivity43, higher emotional intelligence44, and higher emotional regulation45,46 have been found to account for the inverse relation between mindfulness and anxiety.”
From Rational thinking as a mediator of the relationship between mindfulness and dental anxiety (2023) · cites this paper as [42]
Mindfulness training might also replace habits of thought avoidance, enhancing the ability to face troubling thoughts about exams.
“Finally, mindfulness training might also replace habits of thought avoidance, enhancing the ability to face troubling thoughts about exams (McCluskey et al., 2022).”
From Being able to think when caught in the maelstrom - how adolescents used mindfulness when facing exams. (2024) · cites this paper as McCluskey et al., 2022
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“Previous research suggests that mindfulness is inversely associated with experiential avoidance (Boni et al. 2018; Brem et al. 2017; Kroska et al. 2018; Mahoney et al. 2015; Raines et al. 2018).”
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Li, Y., Zhang, A. J., Meng, Y., Hofmann, S. G., Zhou, A. Y., & Liu, X. (2023) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-023-02083-x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Pruessner, L., Timm, C., Kalmar, J., Bents, H., Barnow, S., & Mander, J. (2024) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1155/2024/9081139 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“Similarly, mindfulness may help individuals tolerate and approach their emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations more openly, reducing the conscious or uncon-scious e ff orts to escape from negative experiences through avoidance and suppression [70 – 74].”
BackgroundRational thinking as a mediator of the relationship between mindfulness and dental anxiety
Yao, J., Carciofo, R., & Pan, L. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-28879-4 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
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Personality and Pain Outcomes in Rheumatic Disease: The Mediating Role of Psychological Flexibility
Cojocaru, C.-M., Popa, C. O., Schenk, A., Marian, Ș., Marchean, H., Suciu, B. A., Szasz, S., Popoviciu, H., & Mureșan, S. (2024) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare12111087 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“In contrast to psychological interventions focused on symptom reduction, process-based psychotherapy works on replacing dysfunctional psychological processes with their functional counterparts, enabling emotion regulation and facilitating adjustment in the long run [91].”
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“This is consistent with studies demonstrating that intolerance of uncertainty, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance mediate the effects of mindfulness on depression and anxiety outcomes (Kraemer et al., 2016; McCluskey et al., 2022; Tran et al., 2022).”
ResultDundas, I., & Binder, P.-E. (2024) · International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1080/17482631.2024.2375660 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Finally, mindfulness training might also replace habits of thought avoidance, enhancing the ability to face troubling thoughts about exams (McCluskey et al., 2022).”
Background
- Authors
- McCluskey, D. L., Haliwa, I., Wilson, J. M., Keeley, J. W., & Shook, N. J.
- Affiliations
- South Texas Veterans Health Care System (US)
- West Virginia University (US)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shook, Natalie J.
- Venue
- Current Psychology
- Published
- 2020-07-11
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 3947-3957
- ISSN
- 1046-1310 (ISSN-L)
- 1936-4733
- OpenAlex
- W3042161130
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 2.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- mindfulness, experiential avoidance, anxiety, mediation, trait mindfulness, anxiety maintenance, mindfulness training, university students
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