Mindfulness and Relationships: A Special Issue on Recent Developments

Abstract

This article serves as the conclusion of the special issue entitled “Mindfulness and Relationships.” The special issue includes nine research articles with authors and samples from a variety of countries. Romantic relationships between two heterosexual partners were studied most often in the special issue articles, but studies also focused on family relationships, friendships, and relationships between strangers. This article provides a summary of the special issue and the associations between mindfulness and relationships. The article concludes with the special issue editors’ reflections on the current and future direction of research on mindfulness and relationships of all types.

Keywords

mindfulness sexual mindfulness relationships transition to parenting foster parents friendship relational satisfaction sexual satisfaction

Introduction

In the past two decades, mindfulness has been studied mainly in the domain of individual health and wellbeing (for a review see Gu et al., 2015). More recently, both scientists and practitioners recognized that mindfulness may play a role mindfulness in interpersonal settings as well (Karremans et al., 2020; Pratscher et al., 2019; Skoranski et al., 2019). Yet, mindfulness – defined as paying non-judgmental attention to current moment experiences across situations and time (Kabat-Zinn, 2015) – may not be the first construct that relationship researchers bring to mind when they think about the ingredients of satisfying and stable interpersonal relationships – it is still a relatively understudied topic. Few relationship scientists, however, will dispute that many of the processes that are key to the wellbeing of close relationships require attention and awareness. For example, being responsive to the partner requires paying attention to the needs of one’s partner (Adair et al., 2018). A prerequisite to communicating effectively about inner feelings is that one is actually aware of them (Burgoon et al., 2000). In an intimate relationship, paying attention benefits relational and sexual outcomes (Leavitt, Maurer, et al., 2021; Fraser et al., 2022; Busby et al., 2022). These are just a few examples of how paying attention may play an important role in the quality of close relationships.

With this special issue, we had the opportunity to bring together recent findings on the role of mindfulness in interpersonal relationships and showcase recent developments in this field. We summarize here the articles in this special issue and how they examined the links between mindfulness and relational outcomes such as relational quality. The articles included many contexts of mindfulness (e.g., romantic relationships, parenting relationships, academic relationships, strangers meeting for the first time), a mixture of methods and study designs (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, intervention work, experimental design), and a range of samples from various countries (e.g., Canada, Netherlands, Britain). For the nine papers that appear in this special issue, we describe the main findings of how mindfulness impacts relationships and discuss future research directions. For a summary of the sample, type of data, data collection method, and research questions and/or hypotheses for each paper included in the special issue, see Table 1.

Table 1.

Descriptives of Studies, with Studies Listed Alphabetically by Authors’ Last Names.

Author	Participants	Data collection method	Data type	Research question(s)(RQ)/Hypotheses (H)
De Cristofaro et al.	Five studies totaling N = 3,275 individuals Participants from Italy, Britain, Russia	Online survey (Prolific), social networks, snowball, email recruitment	non-dyadic and dyadic	HI: Mindful people may be less likely to experience the more detrimental manifestations of jealousy, namely cognitive and behavioral (vs. emotional) jealousy, through higher self-esteem
Gazder & Stanton	100 couples Participants were from Britain	Online survey, other advertisement	dyadic	RQ1: Do general and/or relationship mindfulness directly contribute to change in attachment orientations in couples over time? RQ2: Do relationship preoccupation and empathy mediate the links between general and/or relationship mindfulness and change in attachment orientations over time? RQ3: What (if any) role does the partner play in the links between mindfulness, relationship preoccupation, empathy, and attachment orientations?
Kelly & Nichols	202 individuals from Southwestern US	Online survey (Qualtrics)	non-dyadic	RQ1: Do individuals describe their intimate encounters in ways that reflect a relational mindfulness experience? RQ2: What themes are useful in understanding participants’ descriptions of relational mindfulness? RQ3: How does use of relational mindfulness themes vary by interpersonal context?
Lausch et al.	10 women from Northwestern US	University STEM graduate students	non-dyadic	RQ: How do the participants experience relationships and identity formation, and how does mindfulness connect to these experiences?
Leavitt et al.	169 mixed-sex, married couples From the US	Sample from a US nationally representative sample of newlywed couples	dyadic	Condensed from study H1: For mothers, mindfulness in the post-partum period for both actor and partner will be positively associated with perceived healthier pregnancy, healthier childbirth, heathier post-partum physical health markers, and lower depression of mothers in the post-partum period H2: For fathers, mindfulness in the post-partum period for both actor and partner will be positively associated with heathier post-partum physical health markers and lower depression of fathers in the post-partum period H3: For mothers’ and fathers’ mindfulness in the post-partum period for both actor and partner will be positively associated with relational and sexual satisfaction, and attachment promoting behaviors of partner H4: For mothers’ and fathers’, mindfulness in the post-partum period for both actor and partner will be positively associated with parenting satisfaction and parenting competency, and negatively associated with parenting stress of partners
Morin et al.,	78 parent couples; 156 participants; Participants were Canadian and French speaking	Facebook ads and snowball sampling	dyadic	H1: one’s perceived stress will explain the positive link between one’s mindfulness and their partner’s relationship satisfaction H2). Two other dyadic indirect effects throughout perceived stress are also possible in the link between one’s mindfulness and their partner’s relationship satisfaction
Richardson et al.	264 couples self-selected to enroll in one of four weekend-intensive programs; US	US federally funded study evaluating couple relationship education (CRE) program for couples in the child welfare system, including foster caregiver couples	dyadic	H1a and b: T2 couple relationship skill scores will be significantly higher than T1 scores among foster mother and foster fathers H2 a and b: foster mothers and foster fathers will report significantly higher T2 mindfulness scores when compared to baseline (T1) mindfulness scores H3 a and b: higher levels of change in mindfulness will be associated with greater positive change in couple relationship skills following CRE program participation among foster mothers and foster fathers
van der Schans et al.	134 individuals; Female participant were from the Netherlands	University convenience sample	female stranger same-sex dyads	RQ1: Will trait mindfulness be associated with more positive experiences with the interpersonal interaction? H1: trait mindfulness would be negatively associated with subjective distress during a stressful interpersonal interaction H2: trait mindfulness would be associated with more positive interpersonal perceptions RQ2: Are there actor effects and partner effects?

Summary of Article Findings

Richardson and colleagues showed the importance of mindfulness as a mechanism in couple relationship education (CRE) for foster parents in a dyadic intervention study. They noted that foster parents are often exposed to a unique set of strains and challenges, which makes it difficult for the foster parent to adequately care for the foster children (Barnett et al., 2018; Miller et al., 2019). They found that both men and women within couples reported significant improvement in both mindfulness and couple relationship skills following participation in a couple intervention program, ELEVATE, and that changes in mindfulness moderated the change women reported for couple relationship skills. These findings suggest that mindfulness may help individuals perceive the strains that come with foster parenting differently, resulting in higher relationship skills.

Morris and colleagues found in a dyadic study that women’s reported relationship mindfulness was associated with less relationship conflict through the associations of male loneliness and male negative partner attributions in a cross-sectional study. Mindfulness may both reduce loneliness and also encourage more positive partner attributions, which likely reduces relationship conflict. These findings are consistent with recent experimental work showing that mindfulness training can reduce loneliness (Lindsay et al., 2019).

De Christofaro and colleagues found that mindfulness is connected to lower behavioral and cognitive jealousy in a cross-sectional study. Although mindfulness was not significantly associated with self-esteem, emotional jealousy, and relationship functioning, it was associated with decreased cognitive and behavioral jealousy, which in turn were positively associated with couple satisfaction and relationship quality and negatively associated with conflicts. These findings show that mindfulness may slow down an individual’s jealous reaction and allow space to cognitively process emotions with less judgement.

Gadzer and Stanton used a dyadic model and found that participants’ initial trait mindfulness, but not their relational mindfulness, predicted later decreases in their own attachment anxiety. This was a longitudinal study in which both members of the couple reported data, allowing the test of both actor and partner effects, The authors also found that participants’ initial relational mindfulness, but not their trait mindfulness, predicted later attachment avoidance through greater empathy. Finally, initial actor and partner attachment anxiety predicted increases in mindfulness, which provides the first dyadic longitudinal evidence of the interaction between partners’ mindfulness and attachment.

Leavitt and colleagues also used a dyadic model and found that trait mindfulness and sexual mindfulness were associated with reduced risks and promotions of healthy behaviors during the often-complicated transition to parenthood and that these lower risks and healthier behaviors contributed to the parents’ relational quality in a cross-sectional study. Their study also showed that mindfulness and sexual mindfulness were connected to their feelings of attachment to one another and lower levels of depressive symptoms, a particularly salient finding during the transition to parenthood.

Morin and colleagues also examined mindfulness during the transition to parenthood using a dyadic model, this time using daily diaries. Their research revealed that parents who were more mindful reported lower perceived stress, which was then associated with higher relational satisfaction. This study also employed actor-partner methods and found that actor mindfulness was positively associated with partner report of relational satisfaction. Finding confirmed previous research that indicate the stressful experience of becoming a new parent (Barnett et al., 2018) and showed that mindfulness is one tool that may reduce the impact of this new role of parenting.

The articles summarized here examined the role of mindfulness in romantic relationships. Generally, the positive outcomes associated with mindful partners may occur such that mindfulness buffers relationships from a variety of distressing factors or relationship-threatening environments (see Karremans et al., 2017). Mindful partners may have greater awareness of their feelings and may be able to exercise more self-compassion (Hölzel et al., 2011; Neff, 2022) as well as compassion for their partner (Pommier et al., 2020). The articles in this special issue contribute to further understanding some of the ways in which mindfulness may benefit committed romantic relationship.

In addition to the role of mindfulness in romantic relationships, other articles published in this special issue examined how mindfulness are associated with connecting to other people more generally. Lausch and colleagues used qualitative methods and found that female students' experiences, including supportive relationships and a sense of identity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), had been influenced by their interpersonal connections or disconnection in and outside of academia in a cross-sectional study. A mindfulness practice provided opportunity and skills for the students to reflect on their science identity and other relationships. Students were able to see ways to modify relationships when needed. Three themes are discussed: academic relationships with peers and advisors, including negotiating social comparisons; personal relationships with family and friends, including academia-life balance; and the relationship to their STEM identity. This study provides preliminary evidence that mindful interactions may give women a stronger sense of belonging as they embark in more traditionally male dominated academic environments.

In another qualitative study, Kelly and Nichols asked their participants to write about experiences across various interpersonal contexts (e.g., sex, conflict, and play) and found that people spontaneously use language that implies mindfulness in their descriptions in a cross-sectional study. In other words, people seem to implicitly describe characteristics of mindfulness when they think about how they interact with others. For example, in their descriptions of the various interpersonal contexts, participants regularly used phrases that imply the role of being present, aware, and non-judging during interactions with others. This research may help broaden the scope of how and where mindful skills are applied.

Finally, in a laboratory study, van der Schans and colleagues used female stranger-dyads and found that participant trait mindfulness was positively associated with their own enjoyment of the interaction, and their self-reports of attentiveness and coping. Within the dyad, the actors’ trait mindfulness was positively associated with the partners’ enjoyment of the interaction. There was little evidence for partner effects. That is, following the interaction, partner B did not perceive partner A to be more or less attentive depending on partner A’s level of trait mindfulness. Thus, like the qualitative findings of Lausch and colleagues, and Kelly and Nichols, it appears that mindfulness can affect how participants experience and perceive their interactions with others. However, whether people notice mindfulness (or the lack thereof) in others remains one of the open standing questions as we will discuss below.

Conclusions of Special Issue Findings

Individuals spend large portions of their time interacting with others and these relationships may present unique challenges (Ortiz-Ospina, 2020). The articles in this special issue examined a variety of interpersonal contexts where mindfulness played a positive part in the interactions. This special issue included samples from the US, Canada, Britain, The Netherlands, Italy, and Russia.

Romantic relationships are a central part of most people’s lives and contribute to individuals’ wellbeing (for a review see, Proulx et al., 2007). Declining relational quality has been a longstanding area of research (Karney & Bradbury, 1995; Kurdek, 1999), but more recent research suggests that declines are not inevitable, and some couples may stay consistent in their satisfaction or possibly increase or experience only slight declines (Karney & Bradbury, 2020; Lavner & Bradbury, 2010). Mindfulness has consistently shown a positive association with relational quality in interpersonal, romantic, and parenting relationships (e.g., Galovan et al., 2022; Karremans et al., 2017; Kimmes et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2022) and this special issue contributes to that body of literature.

The often-difficult transition to parenthood context may contribute additional stress to relationships and research shows that several risks accompany this transition (Saxbe et al., 2018). Some findings from this special issue indicated mindfulness was associated with greater healthy behaviors and attitudes such as maintaining a strong relationship despite parenting stresses (Richardson et al.), and some indicated that mindfulness was associated with lower risk factors such as parenting stress or maternal depression (Leavitt et al., 2021; 2022). These findings contribute to a broader body of research suggesting that mindful parents can create an environment that may buffer some of the risks associated with the transition to parenthood (Bögels & Emerson, 2019).

The research reported in this special issue also suggest that interpersonal interactions more generally benefit from less judgement and greater awareness (Kelley & Nichols). Even for people who had no prior relationship (i.e., female stranger-dyads), the effect of mindful attentiveness resulted in more enjoyable interactions (van der Schans et al.). As suggested by previous research, mindfulness may provide a nested effect for both the individual’s inner environment, or their intra-actions, and the individual’s dealings with others, their interactions (Skoranski et al., 2019). A mindful individual may both calm their own emotion through psychological flexibility, which is open, aware, and active (Hayes et al., 2012) and create more attunement or synchrony, which creates complementary emotion and behavior with another person (Siegal, 2012).

Future Directions

Several needs have existed in the literature including research examining mindfulness theory and measurement, mindful romantic relationships, mindful parenting, mindful tools used within relationship education, mindfulness and adolescents, mindfulness, and couples at risk, as well as how mindfulness may support healthy interpersonal behaviors (compassion) and/or diminish unhealthy behaviors (rumination) within relationships. While some of these areas are beginning to be evaluated such as relational conflict and mindfulness (Bögels & Emerson, 2019; Smedley et al., 2021), there is much work to be done. Additionally, we note below a few broad areas of research that are still needed.

Effects of trait versus trained mindfulness. Most research in this special issue examined the association between trait mindfulness and relational outcomes. Trait mindfulness refers to individual differences in the level of mindfulness, across situations and across time (Baer, 2003). In other words, some people on average tend to be more aware and accepting of current moment experiences, irrespective of their valence. The assumption is that such individual differences can reliably be measured with self-report measures (Rau & Williams, 2016). However, as with most self-report measures, the limitations of trait mindfulness measures have been debated (e.g., desirable responding; see for example, Karl & Fischer, 2022). Moreover, research on trait mindfulness does not address the question whether the training of mindfulness can causally affect relationships. What the field of mindfulness and relationships needs is more experimental research that tests causality: randomized controlled trials in which people are assigned to either mindfulness intervention or an active control group (Van Dam et al., 2018). Such studies can test the causal impact of the training on relationship outcomes, while examining underlying mechanisms. Currently, only a handful of studies have looked at the effects of mindfulness intervention on relationships (Carson et al., 2004; Kappen et al., 2019; Karremans et al., 2020; Leavitt, Maurer, et al., 2021). While generally showing positive outcomes, the studies are limited, for example in their use of active control. This is an important next step in this research area.

Measures that go beyond self-report. The research reported in this special issue mostly relies on self-report measures of relationship outcomes, generally reflecting the broader literature on this topic. However, self-reported relationship outcome measures have obvious limitations (e.g., motivated responding; Faure et al., 2020) – and more insight into more objective behavioral and physiological indicators of relationship functioning and quality would move the field forward. Currently, only a few studies have done so. For example, Barnes et al. (2007) found that trait mindfulness was associated with observer-coded behavioral indicators of constructive communication during a conflict discussion between partners. Another study showed that trait mindfulness was associated with lower stress reactance and faster stress recovery to a partner’s negative behavior, as indicated by physiological responses (i.e., cortisol; Laurent et all., 2016). Whether such objective behavioral and physiological indicators of relationship functioning benefit from mindfulness training is still an empirical question. Such studies would give answers to the question whether and how exactly increases in mindfulness causally benefits relationships – be it in romantic, friendship, work, parent-child, or other type of relationships.

Dyadic and third-person perspectives. It is encouraging to see that six of the nine articles in this special issue examined mindfulness in a dyadic context (Gadzer & Stanton; Leavitt et al.; Morin et al.; Morris et al.; Richardson et al.; Van der Schans et al.). When studying the relational effects of mindfulness, a more complete understanding of these effects would benefit from a relational analysis. Most research in this area of mindfulness has focused on examining whether mindfulness in one partner, say Partner A, affects their own relationship outcomes. As a case in point, in one recent meta-analysis it was demonstrated that, based on the data of 28 studies, Partner A’s trait mindfulness is positively associated with their own relationship satisfaction (Quinn-Nilas, 2020). Arguably the more interesting question is whether Partner A’s level of mindfulness (trait or trained) affects not only their own relationship evaluations and outcomes, but whether their level of mindfulness affects Partner B’s relationship outcomes as well. Relatedly, if Partner A enters a mindfulness training that increases their level of mindfulness, will their social surroundings perceive any changes in Partner A (i.e., third-person perspective)? Only a few studies have examined these issues (e.g., Adair et al., 2018; McGill et al., 2020), with six studies in this special issue contributing to this emerging body of research.

Negative outcomes. Finally, while researchers have mainly focused on the beneficial outcomes, an interesting question is whether increases in mindfulness may have any negative consequences for relationships (see Van Dam et al., 2018). For example, in the domain of romantic relationships, it has been suggested that mindfulness training not only may reduce automatic negative response patterns between partners (i.e., beneficial for the relationship), but may also undermine positive automatic and habitual response patterns that contribute to interaction ‘smoothness’ and a sense of trust between partners (Karremans et al., 2017). Additionally, most of the studies come from the US, Canada, or other Western countries. The effect of mindfulness in countries that are not individualistic is less studied and may result in different findings. For a broader understanding of the role of mindfulness in relationships, these and other potential negative consequences should not be neglected.

Closing Remarks

The research presented in this special issue provides novel insights into the role of trait mindfulness across several relationship types, examining various possible mechanisms, and using a variety of methods. At the same time, the articles presented here also show the challenges that come with studying mindfulness in relationships, and our hope is that this special issue inspires other relationship researchers to take on this challenge.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Chelom E. Leavitt

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