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Exploring How Trait Mindfulness Relates to Perceived Stress and Cardiovascular Reactivity

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Abstract

Background

Mindfulness interventions have been associated with less global perceived stress as well as attenuated cardiovascular reactivity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether high levels of trait mindfulness would also be associated with these benefits.

Methods

Participants were 99 healthy young adults aged 18–25 years. Self-report measures included the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale. Participants completed a laboratory stress protocol comprised of a resting baseline, a mental arithmetic stress task, and a resting recovery period. Blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability were measured throughout the protocol. Regressions were used to analyze whether trait mindfulness predicted global perceived stress, cardiovascular reactivity, and cardiovascular recovery.

Results

Two trait mindfulness facets were found to be associated with less global perceived stress, Acting with Awareness (β = − .306, p = .002) and Nonjudgment (β = − .342, p < .001). Exploratory analyses also revealed an interaction between the Observe and Nonreactivity facets (p = .002), such that the Observe facet was associated with less stress only when Nonreactivity scores were also high. Although trait mindfulness was not a significant predictor of the physiological variables (p > .05, Cohen’s f2 < .060), exploratory analyses revealed an interaction between the Awareness and Nonjudgment facets (p < .001), such that Awareness is associated with lower diastolic blood pressure reactivity only when Nonjudgment scores are also high.

Conclusions

Like mindfulness interventions, trait mindfulness is associated with less global perceived stress. Interactions between trait mindfulness facets that reflect attention monitoring and acceptance might predict physiological reactivity in certain contexts, though a mindful state might be necessary for most real-time cardiovascular benefits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

    David E. Ede, Fawn A. Walter & Joel W. Hughes

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  1. David E. Ede
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Ede, D.E., Walter, F.A. & Hughes, J.W. Exploring How Trait Mindfulness Relates to Perceived Stress and Cardiovascular Reactivity. Int.J. Behav. Med. 27, 415–425 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-020-09871-y

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