Mindfulness and Paranoia: A Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal and Experimental Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this article was to examine the role of mindfulness, and its facets, in predicting (Studies 1 and 2) and attenuating (Study 3) paranoia in students. Methods: Study 1 used cross-sectional questionnaire-based methodology (N = 410) to examine the association between mindfulness and paranoia whilst controlling for their shared association with anxiety and depression. Study 2 used longitudinal design to test the prospective influence of mindfulness facets on state paranoia over a 2-week period (N = 84). Study 3 used a single-blind between-group experimental design to examine the effects of 1-week self-administered mindfulness training (N = 34) versus 1-week self-administered guided visual imagery (GVI) training (N = 34) on state paranoia. Results: In study 1, controlling for anxiety and depression, low levels of non-judgement were significantly associated with high levels of paranoia (p