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Mindfulness Facets and Death Anxiety: The Role of Cognitive Flexibility Components

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Abstract

Mindfulness has been defined as the concentration of non-judgmental attention along with accepting the experience occurring in the present. Previous studies have shown that mindfulness decreases pregnant women’s anxiety. This study examined the relationship between mindfulness facets, cognitive flexibility components, and death anxiety in third-trimester pregnant women in Kerman in 2021. Two hundred fifty-six pregnant women completed the FFMQ, CFI, and DASS questionnaires. Path analysis of responses showed that describing, non-judging, and non-reactivity facets of mindfulness, positively predict alternative component of cognitive flexibility and describing facet of mindfulness positively predicts control component of cognitive flexibility. In this analysis, only the direct effect of describing facet of mindfulness on death anxiety was significant and its indirect effect was applied by control component of cognitive flexibility. Thus, these findings supported previous studies on the importance of mindfulness in pregnant women to increase cognitive flexibility and thus reduce their death anxiety. Therefore, if mindfulness training for pregnant women is implemented by emphasizing the importance of describing their experiences and increasing their control over their own situation, significant results can be expected in this area.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank all pregnant women who participated in this study.

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  1. Department of Psychology, School of Literature and Human Sciences, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran

    Ghasem Askarizadeh, Maryam Poormirzaei & Masoud Bagheri

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  1. Ghasem Askarizadeh
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  2. Maryam Poormirzaei
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  3. Masoud Bagheri
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Correspondence to Maryam Poormirzaei.

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Ethics was approved by the Psychology Department of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and received the Code of Ethics (E. A. 97. 11. 13. 01).

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Askarizadeh, G., Poormirzaei, M. & Bagheri, M. Mindfulness Facets and Death Anxiety: The Role of Cognitive Flexibility Components. Psychol Stud 67, 208–217 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00655-w

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