Dispositional mindfulness mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and mental health-related issues in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is seriously affecting the mental health of adolescents and triggering a series of mental health-related issues. The present study investigates the relationships between conscientiousness, dispositional mindfulness (DM), and adolescents' mental health-related issues including anxiety, depression, and perceived stress during this time. In this study, after obtaining informed consent from participants' parents, 5994 Chinese adolescents voluntarily and anonymously completed an online survey. Conscientiousness was found to be negatively associated with anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. It was found to be positively associated with DM, which, in turn, negatively predicts anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. Conscientiousness is thus related to mental health-related issues, and this relationship is mediated by DM. This mediation effect is stronger in females than in males. These findings provide new and strong evidence for the protective role of conscientiousness and DM in adolescents' mental health-related issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Anxiety; Conscientiousness; Depression; Gender differences; Mindfulness; Perceived stress.