The Role of Attentional Control in the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Anxiety

Abstract

Mindfulness has been robustly associated with psychological health, predicting greater well-being, and lower levels of anxiety, depression, and stress across samples. Attentional control is the ability to voluntarily shift, focus, and train one’s attention and has also been linked with better psychological functioning. Less well-understood, however, are which domains of mindfulness may be associated with particular aspects of mental health, including anxiety, and whether attentional control may help to explain the relationship between specific facets of mindfulness and anxiety. This study examined self-reported shifting and focusing attentional control as mediators of the relationships between five domains of dispositional mindfulness (i.e., observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting) and symptoms of anxiety. Two hundred and eighty-six college students completed self-report questionnaires measuring dispositional mindfulness, attentional control, and symptoms of anxiety. Using mediation analyses, findings revealed an indirect effect of two facets of mindfulness on anxiety through focusing attentional control after controlling for shifting attentional control. These findings suggest that specific mindfulness skills are related to better attentional control skills, and that focusing attentional control may then protect against anxiety symptoms in college students. These results have critical implications for college students, who are experiencing anxiety and stress at increasing levels.

Keywords

Mindfulness attentional control anxiety college students

Introduction

Mindfulness can be defined as the awareness that emerges through actively attending to the present moment without reaction or judgment (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992). The term can both be applied to the experience of developing and enhancing mindfulness through meditation practice and to individual differences in dispositional mindfulness (Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011). Dispositional mindfulness is a psychological trait defined by one’s ability to remain in a mindful state over time (Keng et al., 2011). Individuals with greater mindfulness skills experience mindful states more frequently and with heightened intensity for longer periods of time. More mindful individuals are better able to focus their attention on the present moment, attending to their changing thoughts and feelings, without judging their experiences and remaining open and accepting (Bishop et al., 2004; Keng et al., 2011).

Research has consistently revealed mindfulness to be a multidimensional construct, most commonly viewed as comprised of five different components: (1) observing, defined as the process of noticing or attending to one’s emotions and cognitive experiences and sensations; (2) describing, which refers to using language to label what one is feeling or thinking; (3) acting with awareness, defined as the ability to be attentive to what one is experiencing in the moment; (4) nonjudging of inner experience, which refers to refraining from evaluating one’s thoughts and feelings; and (5) nonreactivity to inner experience, defined as one’s ability to let thoughts and feelings pass through one’s mind without responding, or elaborating (Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006).

Greater mindfulness skills overall have been associated with a range of positive health outcomes, including greater life satisfaction (e.g., Henriksson, Wasara, & Rönnlund, 2016), and lower levels of anxiety and depression (Bajaj, Robins, & Pande, 2016; Pearson, Lawless, Brown, & Bravo, 2015). Furthermore, individual facets of mindfulness have been shown to differentially impact psychopathology and other emotional outcomes in particular populations, including college students. Pearson et al. (2015) for example, investigated subgroups of college students with specific mindfulness profiles, including low mindfulness, high mindfulness, judgmentally observing, and nonjudgmentally aware groups. Along with the group demonstrating high mindfulness scores across subscales, the group of participants reporting high scores on nonjudging and acting with awareness mindfulness tended to show better emotional outcomes, including fewer depressive and anxious symptoms (Pearson et al., 2015). Corroborating these results, other studies have found that higher levels of acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting mindfulness predicted lower levels of depression (Christopher, Neuser, Michael, & Baitmangalkar, 2012; Ciesla, Reilly, Dickson, Emanuel, & Updegraff, 2012; de Bruin, van der Zwan, & Bögels, 2016; Desrosiers, Klemanski, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013; Royuela-Colomer & Calvete, 2016) and anxiety (Bränström, Kvillemo, Brandberg, & Moskowitz, 2010; Desrosiers et al., 2013; Garland, Tamagawa, Todd, Speca, & Carlson, 2013), across a range of samples. In contrast to the well-documented associations between the acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting mindfulness domains and mental health, evidence for the effects of describing and observing mindfulness on mental health and psychological well-being are mixed (e.g., Baer et al., 2006; Desrosiers et al., 2013; Garland et al., 2013; Royuela-Colomer & Calvete, 2016). For example, in a longitudinal examination of mindfulness facets and depression in a sample of adolescents, Royuela-Colomer and Calvete (2016) found that observing mindfulness indirectly predicted an increase in depression through greater rumination. Similarly, observing mindfulness has been associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms in some studies (e.g., Desrosiers et al., 2013), and lower anxiety in others (e.g., Garland et al., 2013). These opposing findings suggest the need for further research investigating these relationships. Although the beneficial impact of mindfulness has been well-established and the literature has identified links between specific facets of mindfulness and better mental health, limited existing research has examined the mechanisms by which particular dimensions of mindfulness may exert these beneficial effects on psychological functioning (e.g., Bajaj et al., 2016; MacDonald & Baxter, 2017; MacDonald & Price, 2017; Pepping, Duvenage, Cronin, & Lyons, 2016; Royuela-Colomer & Calvete, 2016). Furthermore, the examination of how specific mindfulness facets may protect against anxiety symptoms, in particular, is especially lacking.

The construct of attentional control refers to the ability to direct, focus, and shift attention voluntarily, and may be viewed, along with self-regulation, emotion regulation, and delay of gratification (Williams, Rau, Suchy, Thorgusen, & Smith, 2017), as a function of executive processes (Derryberry & Reed, 2002; Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007; Reinholdt-Dunne, Mogg, & Bradley, 2013). Greater attentional control has been associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety (Williams et al., 2017), and poorer attentional control has been positively linked with depression, anxiety, and worry (Fergus, Bardeen, & Orcutt, 2012; Ólafsson et al., 2011). Individuals with better attentional control skills demonstrate both the ability to shift their attention away from negative thoughts, thus discouraging rumination, as well as to voluntarily focus their attention on positive thoughts, which may serve to protect against or reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety (Bardeen & Orcutt, 2011; Fergus et al., 2012; Mills et al., 2016; Reinholdt-Dunne et al., 2013; Wadlinger & Isaacowtiz, 2011). In addition, better attentional control may aid in the ability to focus one’s attention on the present moment, rather than attending to thoughts, feelings, or events in the past or future.

There are two components of self-reported attentional control: Shifting attentional control and focusing attentional control. Existing literature suggests that these domains may be differentially associated with particular dimensions of psychopathology. Specifically, poorer focusing attentional control and the impaired ability to resist distraction have been linked with anxiety, whereas difficulties with shifting attentional control have been demonstrated to predict depression (Judah, Grant, Mills, & Lechner, 2014; Ólafsson et al., 2011; Reinholdt-Dunne et al., 2013). It may be that a deficit in focusing attentional control is associated with greater distractibility and attentional biases toward threat-related stimuli, which is often seen in individuals with greater anxiety symptomatology (Judah et al., 2014). In contrast, individuals with poorer shifting attentional control may be more likely to have difficulty distracting themselves from negative, ruminative thoughts, shifting toward thoughts that are less upsetting, and thus leading to symptoms of depression (Judah et al., 2014). There are exceptions to these findings, however. For example, in Judah et al.’s (2014) Study 4, the authors found that depressive symptoms were more strongly negatively associated with focusing attentional control, and anxiety symptoms were negatively associated with shifting attentional control. Further research is warranted to examine and clarify the differential relationships between dimensions of attentional control and specific types of psychopathology.

Attentional control is a skill that can be developed and improved, and a growing body of research finds that mindfulness and meditation practices represent one important avenue for refining attentional skills (e.g., Lutz, Slagter, Dunne, & Davidson, 2008; Malinowski, 2013). Malinowski’s (2013) work emphasizes the role of mindfulness meditation practice in improving the allocation of individuals’ attentional resources. Central to the definition of mindfulness is the concept of “consciously attending to one’s moment-to-moment experience” (Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, & Freedman, 2006, p. 374). Through the self-regulation of attention seen within mindfulness practice, individuals may develop an enhanced capacity to focus attention by resisting distraction (Wang, Xu, Zhuang, & Liu, 2017), as well as to use attention flexibly, shifting their focus by selecting stimuli upon which to attend (Chambers, Lo, & Allen, 2008; Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007). One of the mechanisms explaining the relationship between mindfulness skills and mental health (Christopher et al., 2012; Ciesla et al., 2012; de Bruin et al., 2016; Desrosiers et al., 2013) may be a greater ability to shift and focus one’s attention to what is happening in the present moment, rather than attending to the past or the future (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010). Specifically, an individual with greater mindfulness skills may be better able to notice an anxious thought without judging or reacting to that thought, recognize that the thought is merely a thought, that one does not need to hold onto this thought, and that the thought is transient (Baer, 2003; Mizera, Bolin, Nugent, & Strand, 2016). Mindfulness theory suggests that excessive attention to the past or future is in part associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety (e.g., Hofmann et al., 2010). The ability to focus one’s attention on the present, honed in individuals with greater mindfulness skills, may thus result in less anxiety.

Despite the existing research supporting the role of mindfulness and meditation practice in improving attentional control (Chambers et al., 2008; Jha et al., 2007; Lutz et al., 2008; Malinowski, 2013), as well as anxiety symptoms (e.g., Christopher et al., 2012; Ciesla et al., 2012; de Bruin et al., 2016; Desrosiers et al., 2013), and the literature demonstrating negative relationships between attentional control and psychopathology (Chambers et al., 2008; Christopher et al., 2012; de Bruin et al., 2016; Desrosiers et al., 2013), investigation of attentional control as a possible mediator of this relationship between specific domains of mindfulness and symptoms of anxiety is limited. Researchers have yet to investigate self-reported shifting and focusing attentional control as mediators of the association between facets of mindfulness and anxiety symptoms in college students, despite important implications for psychological functioning in this population. This study sought to examine the differential relationships between five domains of mindfulness, shifting and focusing attentional control, and anxiety symptoms in a sample of healthy college students. Drawing on existing empirical literature supporting negative relationships specifically between describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting mindfulness and anxiety symptoms (e.g., Bajaj et al., 2016), as well as negative relationships between focusing attentional control and anxiety symptoms (e.g., Fergus et al., 2012; Ólafsson et al., 2011), we predicted that the mindfulness facets of describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting would negatively predict anxiety symptoms, and that the associations between these mindfulness facets and anxiety would be uniquely mediated by lower levels of focusing attentional control.

Method

Participants

The participants in this study were 286 undergraduate students at a large university in the northeast of the United States. To be eligible to participate in the study, individuals were required to be over the age of 18 years and a student at the participating institution. The average age of participants was 19.0 years (SD = 1.10). The sample consisted of 229 (85%) women and 37 (14%) men. Nearly 89% (88.8%) of the participants identified as Caucasian, 4.1% identified as Asian American, 3.0% identified as Latina/Hispanic, 2.6% identified as African American, and 1.5% identified as having another race or ethnicity.

Procedure

Participants were recruited through the university’s Psychology Department. After prospective participants registered to participate in the study, they were directed to the survey website, where they read the Informed Consent Form, indicated their consent to participate, and completed the questionnaire survey. Participants enrolled in certain courses within the Psychology Department received course credit participating in the study. This study received institutional review board approval at the institution at which the data were collected.

Measures

Demographic Questionnaire

The Demographic Questionnaire is a brief, self-report measure constructed by the study authors to collect specific demographic information, such as the participant’s sex, age, year in college, and ethnicity.

Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire

The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) is a 39-item self-report measure of dispositional mindfulness (Baer et al., 2006). Each item is rated on a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from never or very rarely true to very often or always true. This scale includes items such as, “When I’m walking, I deliberately notice the sensations of my body moving,” and “I watch my feelings without getting lost in them.” The scale is comprised of five factors: Observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting. The FFMQ has demonstrated strong psychometric properties (Baer et al., 2006). In this study, Cronbach’s alpha was .74 for observing; .87 for describing; .83 for acting with awareness; .89 for nonjudging; and .68 for nonreacting, indicating generally strong reliability.

Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale

The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS) is a widely-used 42-item self-report questionnaire measuring three distinct domains: depression, anxiety, and stress (Lovibond & Lovibond, 2004). This study used the anxiety subscale. Items are rated on a four-point scale ranging from did not apply to me at all to applied to me very much, or most of the time. The DASS anxiety subscale has 14 items. The measure is widely used and well-validated, demonstrating high internal consistency (Lovibond & Lovibond, 2004). An example item from the anxiety subscale is, “I experienced trembling (e.g., in the hands).” In this study, Cronbach’s alpha was .81 for the anxiety subscale, indicating excellent reliability.

Attentional Control Scale

This 20-item, self-report questionnaire examines one’s ability to control one’s attention. The Attentional Control Scale (ACS) measures the ability to focus attention, to shift attention between tasks, and to flexibly control one’s thoughts (Derryberry & Reed, 2002). This measure has been well-validated, demonstrating high internal consistency (Derryberry & Reed, 2002; Judah et al., 2014; Ólafsson et al., 2011). Participants answered questions based on a four-point scale ranging from almost never to always. An example of a question from this measure is, “It is very hard for me to concentrate on a difficult task when there are noises around.” For scoring, 11 items of the ACS are reversed prior to scoring. Following the factor analysis by Ólafsson et al. (2011), the ACS was divided into focusing (items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12) and shifting (items 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20) subscales for this study. Cronbach’s alpha was .80 for the focusing subscale and .62 for the shifting subscale.

Data analyses

SPSS 25.0 was used to perform the statistical analyses for this study. Prior to analyses, we statistically examined the data for missing values, accuracy of data entry, and fit between the distributions and the assumptions of multivariate data analyses. Each variable was assessed for normality using skewness and kurtosis analyses, as well as through visual inspection. One participant’s mindfulness subscale scores were identified as outliers using visual inspection of boxplots and were truncated to one point more extreme than the next most extreme value, following the recommendations of Tabachnick and Fidell (2007). To improve linearity and reduce skewness, square root transformation was applied to the mildly skewed DASS anxiety subscale score variable. Descriptive data for the variables of interest are presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Descriptive data for observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, nonreacting, anxiety, focusing attentional control, and shifting attentional control (N = 266).

Variables	M (SD)	Skewness^a	Kurtosis^b
FFMQ observing subscale score	26.08 (4.83)	−0.19	0.19
FFMQ describing subscale score	25.73 (5.48)	−0.21	0.20
FFMQ acting with awareness subscale score	24.98 (4.99)	−0.41	0.93
FFMQ nonjudging subscale score	26.35 (6.03)	−0.18	0.27
FFMQ nonreacting subscale score	20.52 (3.68)	−0.35	1.06
DASS anxiety subscale score^c	21.29 (5.60)	1.10	1.04
ACS focusing subscale score	31.23 (4.95)	−0.10	0.15
ACS shifting subscale score	28.46 (3.61)	0.22	0.38

Note. FFMQ: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; DASS: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale; ACS: Attentional Control Scale.

^aSkewness Standard Error = 0.15.

^bKurtosis Standard Error = 0.30.

^cRaw, nontransformed scores.

First, bivariate correlations and t-test analyses were conducted to investigate the contribution of possible covariates to our variables of interest. Specifically, correlations examined whether participant age was associated with the anxiety summary score, mindfulness subscale summary scores, or attentional control subscale summary scores. Additionally, t-test analyses were conducted to examine whether our variables of interest differed by participant ethnicity or sex.

Second, we conducted bivariate correlations to examine the associations between this study’s primary variables: the mindfulness subscales (i.e., observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting), the attentional control subscales (i.e., shifting and focusing), and anxiety symptoms (see Table 2). Those variables with significant bivariate correlations were included in subsequent mediation analyses. We then tested our hypotheses using mediation analyses to examine whether mindfulness affected anxiety indirectly through focusing and shifting attentional control, controlling for relevant covariates. Focusing and shifting attentional control were entered into the equations simultaneously, allowing for the examination of the unique effects of each mediator while accounting for the effects of the other mediator. Mediation analyses were conducted using Preacher and Hayes’ (2004) bias-corrected (BC) bootstrapping method (PROCESS, version 3.1) in which 5,000 random samples from the data were extracted, and indirect effects were computed in each sample. The mediation model was determined to be significant if the 95% BC confidence interval (CI) did not include zero.

Table 2.

Correlations between observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, nonreacting, anxiety, focusing attentional control, and shifting attentional control (N = 266).

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. FFMQ Observing Subscale Score	–	.338***	.096	.001	.388**	.057	.130*	.174**
2. FFMQ Describing Subscale Score		–	.381***	.278***	.394***	−.225***	.291***	.287***
3. FFMQ Acting with Awareness Subscale Score			–	.394***	.265***	−.335***	.512***	.375***
4. FFMQ Nonjudging Subscale Score				–	.213***	−.411***	.246***	.225***
5. FFMQ Nonreacting Subscale Score					–	−.229***	.238***	.263***
6. DASS Anxiety Subscale Score (square root transformed)						–	−.240***	−.184**
7. ACS Focusing Subscale Score							–	.473***
8. ACS Shifting Subscale Score								–

Note. FFMQ: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; DASS: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale; ACS: Attentional Control Scale.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Results

Bivariate analyses

The correlation analyses examining age as a possible covariate revealed no significant associations between age and other variables (all ps > .05), and therefore age was not included in any further analyses. The t-tests examining ethnicity (coded as Caucasian/non-Caucasian due to small ns for other ethnic groups) demonstrated that the acting with awareness mindfulness subscale scores differed by ethnicity (p < .05), with Caucasian participants reporting higher levels of acting with awareness mindfulness scores (m = 25.23) compared with non-Caucasian participants (m = 23.00); ethnicity was included as a covariate in the mediation analyses. The t-tests examining sex demonstrated that the describing mindfulness subscale scores differed by sex (p < .05), with male participants reporting higher levels of describing scores (m = 27.42) compared with female participants (m = 25.42); sex was included as a covariate in the mediation analyses.

Bivariate correlations between observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreacting mindfulness, shifting and focusing attentional control, and anxiety symptoms revealed that variables were correlated in the expected direction at the p < .05 level, with the exception of observing mindfulness, which was not correlated with anxiety symptoms, acting with awareness mindfulness, or nonjudging mindfulness (p > .05) (see Table 2). As a result, observing mindfulness was excluded from mediation analyses. The four remaining mindfulness subscales were positively correlated with both of the attentional control subscales (ps < .001) and negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms (ps < .001). Both attentional control subscales were negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms (ps < .005).

Mediation analyses

The meditation analyses investigated the indirect effects of four mindfulness subscales on symptoms of anxiety through shifting and focusing attentional control. After accounting for the effects of participant ethnicity and sex, findings revealed that participants who endorsed greater describing mindfulness skills also reported better focusing attentional control (b = 0.26, p < .001, 95% BC CI (0.157, 0.371)) and better shifting attentional control (b = 0.19, p < .001, 95% BC CI (0.109, 0.265)). Participants with greater focusing attentional control (b = −0.02, p < .05, 95% BC CI (−0.034, −0.002)) and shifting attentional control (b = −0.01, p < .05, 95% BC CI (−0.034, −0.010)), in turn reported lower levels of anxiety. A 95% BC bootstrap confidence interval for the indirect effect based on 5,000 bootstrap samples was below zero, suggesting that in our sample, the negative association between describing mindfulness and anxiety symptoms could be partially explained by better attentional control, even after controlling for ethnicity and sex (b = −0.007, 95% BC CI (−0.012, −0.002)). In examining the two attentional control subscales, the relationship between describing mindfulness and anxiety was shown to be uniquely indirectly affected by focusing attentional control, after controlling for shifting attentional control (b = −0.005, 95% BC CI (−0.010, −0.001)) (see Table 3). Shifting attentional control was not found to be a significant mediator in the relationship between describing mindfulness skills and anxiety symptoms, after accounting for focusing attentional control (p > 05).

Table 3.

Model coefficients for describing mindfulness mediation analysis predicting anxiety symptoms with sex and ethnicity as covariates (N = 262).

	M₁ (ACS Focusing)			M₂ (ACS Shifting)			Y (DASS Anxiety^a)
	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p
X (FFMQ Describing)	0.264	0.054	<.001	0.187	0.040	<.001	−0.016	0.007	<.05
M₁ (ACS Focusing)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.018	0.008	<.05
M₁ (ACS Shifting)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.012	0.011	0.298
C₁ (Ethnicity)	−0.889	0.925	0.337	0.281	0.675	0.678	0.152	0.109	0.165
C₂ (Sex)	−0.046	0.862	0.958	−0.767	0.629	0.224	0.040	0.102	0.695
Constant	25.520	2.512	<.001	24.773	1.832	<.001	5.631	0.396	<.001
	R² = 0.089, F(3, 258) = 8.417, p < .001			R² = 0.091, F(3, 258) = 8.569, p < .001			R² = 0.092, F(5, 256) = 5.188, p < .001

Note. FFMQ: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; ACS: Attentional Control Scale; DASS: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale.

^aSquare root transformed.

After accounting for the effects of participant ethnicity and sex, participants who endorsed greater nonreacting mindfulness skills also reported better focusing attentional control (b = 0.32, p < .005, 95% BC CI (0.154, 0.478)) and better shifting attentional control (b = 0.26, p < .001, 95% BC CI (0.139, 0.373)). Participants with greater focusing attentional control (b = −0.02, p < .05, 95% BC CI (−0.035, −0.003)) in turn reported lower levels of anxiety. Shifting attentional control did not predict anxiety (b = −0.01, p = .31, 95% BC CI (−0.033, 0.011)). A 95% BC bootstrap confidence interval for the indirect effect based on 5,000 bootstrap samples was below zero, indicating that in our sample, the negative relationship between nonreacting mindfulness and anxiety symptoms could be partially explained by better attentional control, even after accounting for the effects of ethnicity and sex (b = −0.01, 95% BC CI (−0.016, −0.003)). In examining the two attentional control subscales, the relationship between nonreacting mindfulness and anxiety was shown to be uniquely indirectly affected by focusing attentional control while controlling for shifting attentional control (b = −0.006, 95% BC CI (−0.012, −0.001)) (see Table 4).

Table 4.

Model coefficients for nonreacting mindfulness mediation analysis predicting anxiety symptoms with sex and ethnicity as covariates (N = 262).

	M₁ (ACS Focusing)			M₂ (ACS Shifting)			Y (DASS Anxiety^a)
	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p
X (FFMQ Nonreacting)	0.316	0.082	<.001	0.256	0.060	<.001	−0.025	0.010	<.05
M₁ (ACS Focusing)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.019	0.008	<.05
M₁ (ACS Shifting)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.011	0.011	0.314
C₁ (Ethnicity)	−0.583	0.946	0.539	0.541	0.684	0.430	0.124	0.110	0.257
C₂ (Sex)	−0.174	0.876	0.843	−0.817	0.633	0.198	0.040	0.101	0.695
Constant	25.708	2.795	<.001	24.121	2.020	<.001	5.785	0.411	<.001
	R² = 0.060, F(3, 258) = 5.448, p < .005			R² = 0.078, F(3, 258) = 7.315, p < .001			R² = 0.095, F(5, 256) = 5.379, p < .001

Note. FFMQ: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; ACS: Attentional Control Scale; DASS = Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale.

^aSquare root transformed.

Greater acting with awareness mindfulness skills significantly predicted both better attentional control and lower levels of anxiety (all ps < .001), however, when controlling for the effects of the other attentional control subscale, ethnicity, and sex, neither focusing attentional control (b = −0.004, 95% BC CI (−0.013, 0.005)), nor shifting attentional control (b = −0.002, 95% BC CI (−0.008, 0.003)) was found to mediate the relationships between acting with awareness mindfulness and anxiety symptoms (see Table 5). Furthermore, greater nonjudging mindfulness significantly predicted both better attentional control and lower levels of anxiety (all ps < .001), however, when controlling for the effects of the other attentional control subscale, ethnicity, and sex, neither focusing attentional control (b = −0.003, 95% BC CI (−0.007, 0.000)), nor shifting attentional control (b = −0.001, 95% BC CI (−0.004, 0.002)) was found to mediate the relationships between nonjudging mindfulness and anxiety symptoms (see Table 6).

Table 5.

Model coefficients for acting with awareness mindfulness mediation analysis predicting anxiety symptoms with sex and ethnicity as covariates (N = 262).

	M₁ (ACS Focusing)			M₂ (ACS Shifting)			Y (DASS Anxiety^a)
	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p
X (FFMQ Acting with Awareness)	0.509	0.537	<.001	0.275	0.042	<.001	−0.031	0.008	<.001
M₁ (ACS Focusing)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.008	0.009	0.343
M₁ (ACS Shifting)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.009	0.011	0.425
C₁ (Ethnicity)	0.119	0.841	0.888	0.805	0.658	0.222	0.100	0.108	0.357
C₂ (Sex)	0.088	0.773	0.910	−0.784	0.605	0.196	0.040	0.100	0.687
Constant	18.220	2.353	<.001	22.168	1.842	<.001	5.669	0.384	<.001
	R² = 0.263, F(3, 258) = 30.670, p < .001			R² = 0.153, F(3, 258) = 15.482, p < .001			R² = 0.122, F(5, 256) = 7.118, p < .001

Note. FFMQ: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; ACS: Attentional Control Scale; DASS: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale.

^aSquare root transformed.

Table 6.

Model coefficients for nonjudging mindfulness mediation analysis predicting anxiety symptoms with sex and ethnicity as covariates (N = 262).

	M₁ (ACS Focusing)			M₂ (ACS Shifting)			Y (DASS Anxiety^a)
	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p	Coeff.	SE	p
X (FFMQ Nonjudging)	0.198	0.050	<.001	0.134	0.036	<.001	−0.035	0.006	<.001
M₁ (ACS Focusing)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.014	0.008	0.068
M₁ (ACS Shifting)	–	–	–	–	–	–	−0.008	0.010	0.453
C₁ (Ethnicity)	−0.738	0.940	0.433	0.379	0.687	0.581	0.115	0.103	0.265
C₂ (Sex)	−0.387	0.869	0.656	−1.015	0.635	0.111	0.046	0.095	0.634
Constant	27.560	2.436	<.001	26.398	1.779	<.001	5.943	0.372	<.001
	R² = 0.064, F(3, 258) = 5.827, p < .001			R² = 0.062, F(3, 258) = 5.666, p < .001			R² = 0.193, F(5, 256) = 12.242, p < .001

Note. FFMQ: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; ACS: Attentional Control Scale; DASS: Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale.

^aSquare root transformed.

Discussion

Taken together, our findings revealed that greater describing and nonreacting mindfulness skills indirectly predicted fewer anxiety symptoms in our sample of college students, in part through their effect on better focusing attentional control, even after controlling for shifting attentional control, as well as participant ethnicity and sex. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to examine different elements of attentional control as mediators of the relationship between specific facets of mindfulness and anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, our study is novel in its examination of the indirect effect of mindfulness on anxiety through two attentional control subscales simultaneously. These results are consistent with our hypotheses that greater mindfulness would be associated with fewer symptoms of anxiety and that these relationships would be mediated by the ability to focus one’s attention. However, our hypotheses that attentional control would indirectly affect the relationships between acting with awareness and nonjudging mindfulness and symptoms of anxiety were not supported.

These results build on the existing literature documenting positive mental health correlates of greater mindfulness skills (Bajaj et al., 2016; Coffey & Hartman, 2008; Mizera et al., 2016; Pepping et al., 2016) by showing specific mindfulness subscales—describing and nonreacting—that indirectly predict anxiety symptoms via the ability to control the focus of one’s attention. These findings indicate that the specific mindfulness skills of labeling one’s cognitions and emotions without elaboration or reaction may be linked with a greater ability to focus one’s attentional resources. Perhaps through a greater ability to articulate an awareness of one’s experience without reaction, one develops the capacity to flexibly focus one’s attention on what is happening in the present moment. This control of one’s attentional resources may then impact one’s risk for the development of anxiety symptoms, possibly in part because of an ability to train one’s attention on what is happening in the present, with a greater awareness that one’s thoughts and feelings are temporary and will pass, as well as a greater ability to create distance between oneself and one’s anxious thoughts. Perhaps acting with awareness and nonjudging were not found to indirectly affect anxiety through attentional control in part because each of these domains of mindfulness was directly, negatively associated with anxiety in our sample. The strongest bivariate mindfulness—anxiety correlations were between the acting with awareness and nonjudging domains of mindfulness and anxiety. In our sample individuals with an ability to act with awareness and refrain from judging themselves or others demonstrated greater attentional control, as well as lower levels of anxiety, but that attentional control did not mediate the mindfulness—anxiety relationship.

Implications

The results of this study have important implications for clinical practice. Research has suggested that, with practice, individuals can improve their attentional control skills (e.g., Derryberry & Reed, 2002; Lutz et al., 2008; MacLeod, Rutherford, Campbell, Ebsworthy, & Holker, 2002). In their work, Wadlinger and Isaacowtiz (2011) discuss meditation as one method of improving attentional control, which in turn may bolster emotion regulation skills and psychological functioning, including protecting against the development of anxiety. Some forms of meditation involve working to train one’s attentional regulation. Focused attention meditation, for example, is centered on selecting an object, often one’s breath, on which to focus one’s attention (Lutz et al., 2008). Experience with these types of meditation practice have been shown to result in improvements in attentional processes, findings with implications for mental health functioning (e.g., Carter et al., 2005; Lutz et al., 2008).

Our study’s findings support this theoretical model, suggesting that certain types of mindfulness skills, including the ability to describe one’s cognitions and emotions while refraining from reaction, may result in better control of one’s attentional resources. This ability to control the focus of one’s attention to the present moment, in turn, may contribute to fewer symptoms of anxiety. Honed attentional control skills, in part, facilitated by specific aspects of mindfulness, may promote one’s ability to notice a thought or feeling in the present moment without holding on to that thought and to create some distance from the thought or feeling, without necessarily acting on this thought or feeling.

Moreover, the results of this study carry implications for our understanding of mental health in college students. Young adulthood is a high-risk period for the development of psychopathology (Raposa, Hammen, & Brennan, 2015; Shulman et al., 2009). Furthermore, poor mental health during young adulthood predicts ongoing difficulties later in adulthood (Ferdinand, Blüm, & Verhulst, 2001). Although our study was conducted with a healthy, nontreatment seeking sample of college students, our findings that particular domains of mindfulness indirectly affect anxiety symptoms, through their effect on attentional control, suggest that college students broadly may benefit from preventative interventions aimed at bolstering attentional control. Furthermore, it seems that these skills may be improved through mindfulness-based training programs that target the specific domains of describing and nonreacting mindfulness. Improved attentional control skills may have far-reaching benefits across areas of functioning, including possibly protecting against the development of a range of types of psychopathology, such as anxiety, as well as depression. Further research should examine these questions in a large, diverse sample, through mindfulness-based intervention trainings with college students, with a specific focus on the development and practice of attentional control skills.

Limitations

Despite the study’s important strengths, limitations of this work must also be considered. First, due to the goals of the larger study of which this investigation was a part, as well as specific characteristics of the university at which this study was conducted, our sample was comprised primarily of female, Caucasian participants. We attempted to account for this limitation in part by controlling for the effects of ethnicity and sex, but it is unknown whether the findings of this study could be extended to noncollege students, to a more ethnically diverse sample, or to a sample more balanced with regard to sex.

In addition, although the reliability of most of our measures was excellent, there were a few subscales in this study where reliability fell below slightly .70, and replication of these findings is warranted. Furthermore, although several of our hypotheses were supported, some of our effects were quite small, which may be attributable to power limitations, and suggest that these questions should be examined in studies with larger samples. It should also be noted that our measures of mindfulness, attentional control, and mental health symptoms are self-report measures. The Attentional Control Scale, for example, measures participants’ self-reported abilities to focus and shift their attention; this measure is not a behavioral assessment of attentional control. Evidence suggests that behavioral measures of attentional control differ from participants’ self-reported attentional control (Williams et al., 2017), and thus future studies should compare our findings with studies examining relationships between mindfulness, anxiety, and attentional control using objective measures.

Finally, our cross-sectional study does not allow for the establishment of directionality between our constructs. We have argued that effective attentional control skills may allow individuals to focus their attention on the present moment, thereby impacting anxiety symptoms and psychological health. An alternative explanation could be examined example, perhaps in addition, or instead, individuals experiencing symptoms of anxiety may be more likely to be drawn to both internal (e.g., worried thoughts) and/or external (e.g., anxiety-provoking situation) stimuli that interfere with their ability to effectively engage in attentional control (Eysenck et al., 2007). When one is feeling anxious, one’s attentional resources tend to be directed to threat-related stimuli, at the expense of attending to the current situation and/or to nonthreatening aspects of the environment (Eysenck et al., 2007). As such, anxiety may have a deleterious effect on attentional control even as poor attentional control may also increase symptoms of anxiety. In another competing model, mindfulness could be examined as a mediator of the relationship between attentional control and mental health. In this alternative model, one’s ability to regulate one’s attention would foster mindfulness skills (e.g., Malinowski, 2013), which would then predict mental health. These models should be explored in longitudinal examinations of the constructs of mindfulness, attentional control, and anxiety.

Footnotes

Article Notes

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