SCIENCE@home

Dispositional mindfulness predicts cortisol, cardiovascular, and psychological stress responses in adolescence.

R. Lucas-Thompson,Reagan L. Miller,Natasha S. Seiter,M. Prince

Published 2019 in Psychoneuroendocrinology

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND Past studies investigating the link between mindfulness and stress responding (i.e., emotional, psychological, and physiological responses to perceived threat or challenge) have focused on mindfulness training and on adult populations. In addition, research has not directly examined whether high mindfulness is particularly beneficial under conditions of high stress. To fill these gaps, the current study examined whether dispositional mindfulness predicts reduced cortisol, psychological, and cardiovascular stress responding in adolescence, and whether these effects are moderated by perceived life stress. METHODS Adolescents (N = 150; 14-21yrs) completed measures of dispositional mindfulness, perceived life stress, emotional reactivity, and appraisals of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Cortisol and blood pressure responses were measured. RESULTS Higher dispositional mindfulness predicted reduced emotional and cardiovascular responding to the TSST, as well as less-negative task appraisals. In contrast, higher dispositional mindfulness predicted greater cortisol reactivity (or increases in cortisol in response to the TSST), particularly for adolescents experiencing lower perceived life stress. CONCLUSION These findings add to the body of literature indicating that greater mindfulness predicts improved stress responding, but do not suggest that mindfulness buffers the effects of high stress on adolescent stress responding.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-25 of 25 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-28 of 28 citing papers · Page 1 of 1