A new study explored the underlying connections between trait (dispositional) mindfulness, alcohol use, negative emotion (anxiety, depression), and positive emotion (subjective happiness). Participants (N = 203) were college students attending a southeastern university. Participants completed a series of measures and questionnaires including the following. Mindfulness and the presence of specific mindfulness skills were assessed using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS-T) and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Alcohol-related consequences were assessed with the Drinker Inventory of Consequences (DrInC). Lastly, positive and negative emotions were assessed using the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales (DASS). First, the authors calculated Pearson correlations to assess the relationships between all of the above variables. It was found that dispositional mindfulness was moderately-to-strongly and positively related to various facets of mindfulness, such as mindful observation, Acting with Awareness and subjective happiness. In contrast, dispositional mindfulness was negatively related to the experiences of alcohol-related problems, anxiety, and moderate depression. Participants were then divided into two groups, based on their MAAS-T scores, “low mindfulness group” and “high mindfulness group”. The authors conducted a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine the differences between both groups and their experiences of depression, anxiety and subjective happiness. Results showed that participants in the low mindfulness group reported significantly higher levels of anxiety in comparison to those in the high mindfulness group. Furthermore, participants in the high mindfulness group reported similar levels of subjective happiness and depression in comparison to those in the low mindfulness group. With respect to alcohol-related problems, facets of mindfulness accounted for a significant 9.3% of the variability in recently experiencing alcohol-related problems (p = .002). More specifically, Acting with Awareness was a negative predictor of problems such that as awareness of one’s current actions decreases, alcohol-related problems increase. On the other hand, non-judging was a positive predictor of problems such that as judgment of one’s experiences decreases, alcohol-related problems increase.
Take away: This study found that participants high in mindfulness reported significantly higher feelings of subjective happiness, and significantly lower feelings of depression and anxiety, than those low in mindfulness. In addition, facets of mindfulness significantly predicted recent alcohol-related problems.