Mindfulness is Associated with Improved Coping and Mental Well-Being During the Covid-19 Pandemic
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“Right now it’s very easy to let your brain spin out with the frightening possibilities. Practicing mindfulness helps bring us back to the present, and away from the brink.” – David Anderson
Mindfulness training has been shown to improve health and well-being in healthy individuals. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. One of the primary effects of mindfulness that may be responsible for many of its benefits is that it improves the physiological and psychological responses to stress. T
he COVID-19 pandemic is extremely stressful particularly during a lockdown and hence has challenged the mental and physical health of the population. It has created intense stress both for frontline workers but also for people simply isolating at home. So, mindfulness, because of its ability to improve stress responding, may be helpful in coping with the mental and physical challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In today’s Research News article “Coping with COVID-19 – Longitudinal analysis of coping strategies and the role of trait mindfulness in mental well-being.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7843110/ ) Götmann and colleagues recruited online adults during a Covid-19 lockdown in Germany. At 13 different points in time, they completed measures of mindfulness, coping strategies, well-being, savoring, resilience, and depression.
They found that the higher the levels of trait mindfulness the higher the levels of well-being, savoring, and problem solving coping and the lower the levels of distraction and denial and blaming coping. But of the mindfulness facets only self-regulated attention was associated with higher levels of problem solving and savoring and only orientation toward experience was associated with lower levels of distraction and denial and blaming and higher levels of well-being. Further they found that well-being was positively related to problem solving coping was negatively related to blaming.
Using structural equation modelling, they were able to show that mindfulness was positively related to well-being as a result of self-regulated attention which was positively related to problem solving coping and in turn well-being. On the other hand, they found that mindfulness was positively related to well-being as a result of orientation to experience being negative related to distraction and denial and blaming and in turn higher well-being.
These results are interesting but correlational and as such causation cannot be determined. But prior research has demonstrated that mindfulness produces higher well-being and positive coping. So, the present results are likely due to causal connections between these variables. The findings additionally suggest that mindfulness has a twofold connection with well-being via two mindfulness facets. Attention promoted a positive coping mechanism which in turn improved well-being while non-judging of experience interfered with negative coping mechanisms’ ability to detract from well-being.
These findings were produced by people experiencing a Covid-19 lockdown. They suggest that mindfulness is very beneficial during stressful times. It promotes the ability to cope with the situation in a constructive manner and suppresses non-constructive coping. It thus leads to better well-being in the midst of a public health crisis.
So, mindfulness is associated with improved coping and mental well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“During the current pandemic, there is so much uncertainty concerning the future, and many threats to our security (physical, social, emotional, and financial). It is totally natural and normal to feel anxious, fearful, and frustrated. . . Mindfulness can help us acknowledge this situation, without allowing us to be carried away with strong emotions; it can, in turn, help bring ourselves back to a centered calm. Only then can we see more clearly what it is we have control over and what it is that we do not. “ – Michigan Medicine
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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Study Summary
Götmann, A., & Bechtoldt, M. N. (2021). Coping with COVID-19 – Longitudinal analysis of coping strategies and the role of trait mindfulness in mental well-being. Personality and individual differences, 175, 110695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110695
Abstract
Policy interventions intended to fight COVID-19 forced people to cope with several restrictions on their personal freedom. The present work addressed the question of how people dealt with stressors during a lockdown period and investigated the role of trait mindfulness and its subcomponents in coping and mental well-being. We recruited a sample of 93 participants to study coping reactions using a multi-wave study over a period of two-months with 13 measurement points. Multilevel analysis revealed that engagement-related coping such as problem-solving was positively related to well-being; the opposite was true for disengagement coping such as blaming. The mindfulness facet orientation towards experience (being open and accepting experiences without judgment) was negatively related to disengagement coping, while the facet self-regulated attention (awareness of the present moment) was positively related to engagement coping. Self-regulated attention but not orientation towards experience was associated with savoring positive aspects of COVID-related changes over time. Engagement-related coping mediated the effects of trait mindfulness on well-being. The findings point to the differential effects of subcomponents of trait mindfulness in the context of coping and mental well-being. Further implications are discussed.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7843110/