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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Mechanics of Mindfulness: Investigating Metacognitive Beliefs as a Pathway of Effect on Anxiety and Depression
European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, Vol.15(6), pp.1-23
2025
PMID: 40558851
Abstract
This study aimed to address the dearth of literature on mechanisms of effect of mindfulness-based interventions by investigating metacognitive beliefs as a potential mechanism of symptomology-reduction effects. The Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS) component of the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model was augmented to include subtypes of mind wandering and rumination. One hundred and seventy-eight participants sourced from professional networks (M age = 53.13; SD = 11.80) completed an online questionnaire measuring dispositional mindfulness, metacognitive beliefs, rumi-nation, mind wandering, worry, anxiety and depression. Effects of meditation frequency on these variables were examined, as were the relationships between them. Dispositional mindfulness was significantly negatively correlated with metacognitive beliefs, which were positively correlated with worry, mind wandering and rumination, all of which were positively correlated with symptomology. Significant correlations were stronger for spontaneous mind wandering and brooding rumination than their counterparts. Those reporting a daily meditation practice scored significantly higher on three of the five facets of mindful-ness and significantly lower on anxiety and depression symptomology and several CAS elements than those who rarely meditated. Changes in metacognitive beliefs are a potential pathway for MBI-driven reductions in anxiety and depression symptomology. Increases in dispositional mindfulness through MBIs are likely to reduce metacognitive beliefs, which reduce maladaptive processes of the CAS, flowing on to reductions in symptomology. A daily meditation practice appears to increase the efficacy of this mechanism. Subtypes of mind wandering and rumination differ in their contribution to this pathway, perhaps more accurately represented as extremes on their respective continua rather than the current categorical model of typologies measured independently.
Details
- Title
- Mechanics of Mindfulness: Investigating Metacognitive Beliefs as a Pathway of Effect on Anxiety and Depression
- Authors
- Corey Jackson (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and SocietyChristian M Jones (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Engage Research Lab
- Publication details
- European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, Vol.15(6), pp.1-23
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.3390/ejihpe15060109
- ISSN
- 2254-9625; 2174-8144
- PMID
- 40558851
- Copyright note
- © 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the University Association of Education and Psychology. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- Data for this study is available upon request. Participants were informed that any future use of their data would be by the current research team.
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; Engage Research Lab; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991137205702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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