Childhood Interpersonal Trauma and Relationality Among Profiles of Mindfulness Facets

Mindfulness has been conceptualized through five facets, the combination of which can yield different mindfulness profiles. Impeded mindfulness has been linked to childhood interpersonal trauma (CIT) and relational difficulties in adulthood. Exploring profile distinctions on these outcomes is crucial to better understand each profile’s specificities. This study aimed to examine mindfulness profiles based on its five facets and to compare them on CIT and relationality in a probabilistic sample of 731 partnered adults.

Participants were recruited through a randomized selection of telephone numbers and completed an online questionnaire.

Hierarchical cluster analyses identified four mindfulness profiles: (1) high mindfulness, (2) low mindfulness, (3) judgmentally observing, and (4) non-judgmentally aware. Participants in the high mindfulness profile experienced the least psychological violence by an intimate partner, and had relatively high levels of relationality (i.e., higher relationship and sexual satisfaction, fewer sexual concerns, and lower rates of intimate partner violence). Similarly, participants in the non-judgmentally aware profile reported relatively fewer CIT experiences and high relationality. Participants in the low mindfulness profile reported experiencing higher rates of childhood physical trauma and lower levels of relationality (i.e., low relationship satisfaction and higher rates of sexual violence by an intimate partner), whereas participants in the judgmentally observing profile reported higher rates of childhood psychological trauma and exposure to interparental physical violence.

Findings shed light on the empirical and clinical importance of examining mindfulness specific facets combinations (e.g., high observing, low non-judgment) when treating individuals presenting poorer relationality.