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

Keke Shi; Guoyan Feng; Qiyong Huang; Meilin Ye; Hongbo Cui

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1280663

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

Front Psychol. 2023 Dec 21:14:1280663. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1280663. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Keke Shi¹, Guoyan Feng¹, Qiyong Huang², Meilin Ye¹, Hongbo Cui^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Xinhua University, Guangzhou, China.
² Zhangpeng Primary School, Dongguan, China.
³ School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Mental Health Education and Counseling Center, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.

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.

Keywords: college students; mindfulness; negative emotions; resilience; rumination.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by Educational Science Planning Project (Higher Education Project; 2022GXJK383); Guangdong Sports Bureau Project (GDSS2022N143); Guangdong Higher Education Association Private higher education Professional Committee (2022MBGJ073); Guangdong Province Undergraduate College Teaching Quality and Teaching Reform Project (2022 J013/2022J038); Guangzhou Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (2021GZGJ164); Guangzhou Xinhua University Science Research Project (2020KYYB07); and Guangzhou Xinhua University College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project (S202313902015).