Mindfulness and negative emotions among Chinese college students: chain mediation effect of rumination and resilience

Abstract

Objective: This study examines the mediation effect of rumination and resilience between the relationship of mindfulness and negative emotions in Chinese college students. Method: A total of 3,038 college students (19.94 ± 1.10) were investigated by Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MASS), Rumination Response Style Scale (RRS), Resilience Scale (RES) and Depression-anxiety-pressure scale (DASS-21), and the mediation analyses were conducted by adopting PROCESS macro in the SPSS software. Results: ① Mindfulness was negatively associated with rumination and negative emotions (r = −0.69, −0.72; P < 0.01), and positively associated with resilience (r = 0.63, P < 0.01). Rumination was negatively associated with resilience (r = −0.59, P < 0.01), and positively associated with negative emotions (r = 0.83, P < 0.01). Resilience was negatively associated with negative emotions (r = −0.71, P < 0.01). ② Mindfulness can not only directly predict negative emotions (95%CI, −0.12~−0.09) but also affects negative emotions through three indirect paths: Rumination was a mediator (95%CI, −0.24~−0.20), resilience was a mediator (95%CI, −0.07~−0.06), and resilience and rumination were a chain mediator (95%CI, −0.04 ~ −0.03). Conclusion: Mindfulness not only influences negative emotions directly, but also through the mediating effect of rumination and resilience indirectly.