How do the facets of mindfulness predict the constructs of depression and anxiety as seen through the lens of the tripartite theory?

ABSTRACTDespite the well-established benefits of mindfulness in clinical settings, little is known about the unique relationships between specific mindfulness facets and unique and shared symptoms of anxiety and depression. The present study sought to examine how the five facets of mindfulness predict the three tripartite components of depression and anxiety in two studies. An on-line survey was completed once in a cross-sectional study (Study 1), and twice with a four-week interval in a longitudinal study (Study 2). Although Study 1 illustrated associations between the variables that generally supported the hypotheses, Study 2 revealed that acting with awareness was the only mindfulness facet that significantly predicted lower levels of psychological symptoms over time, namely, anhedonia. The model also explored bidirectional relationships between the variables over time. For example, negative affect was found to predict lower levels of non-judging and non-reacting one month later. Taken together these findings highlight the utility of teaching specific aspects of mindfulness therapies aimed at treating depression and anxiety.