Mechanisms of mindfulness: Rumination and self-compassion
Abstract
Why do more mindful individuals tend to be less depressed? We hypothesized (1) that mindfulness is associated with depressive symptoms both via the path of lower levels of rumination and higher levels of self-compassion and (2) that the path via self-compassion would explain variance beyond that which could be explained by rumination. Undergraduate students (N = 277) completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Rumination subscale of the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the depression subscale of the symptom checklist-90 revised (SCL-90-R-dep). Results showed that mindfulness was associated with depressive symptoms both via the pathway of lower levels of rumination and via the pathway of higher levels of self-compassion. Both pathways were found to predict unique variance in depressive symptoms beyond that which could be explained by the other pathway. This suggests that one needs to consider the influence of mindfulness on both rumination and on self-compassion in order to fully understand why mindful individuals tend to be less depressed.
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Identification of key mechanisms could support development of other effective programmes by enhancing potent mechanisms.
“It could also support the development of other effective programmes of support, through the enhancement of the most potent mechanisms of action e.g., if self-compassion was found to be a key mechanism, self-compassion activities could be utilised to improve stress and burnout in social work (Miller et al., 2020; Svendsen et al., 2017).”
From Testing Mindfulness Mechanisms of Action on the Stress and Burnout of Social Workers (2024) · cites this paper as Svendsen et al., 2017
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References 55 · Cited by 88
- Authors
- Svendsen, J. L., Kvernenes, K. V., Wiker, A. S., & Dundas, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Fonna Hospital Trust (NO)
- Oslo Kommune (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Svendsen, Julie Lillebostad
- ORCID
- Dundas, Ingrid
- Venue
- Nordic Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-04-15
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 71-82
- ISSN
- 1901-2276 (ISSN-L)
- 1904-0016
- OpenAlex
- W2341225062
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 7.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nordic 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, rumination, self-compassion, depressive symptoms, depression, mediation, mechanisms of mindfulness, undergraduate students
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