Accept Anxiety to Improve Sleep: The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Relationships between Mindfulness, Distress, and Sleep Quality

Marco Mirolli, Luca Simione, Monica Martoni and Marco Fabbri
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Marco Mirolli: Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (ISTC-CNR), Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, 00185 Rome, Italy
Luca Simione: Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (ISTC-CNR), Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, 00185 Rome, Italy
Monica Martoni: Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialized Medicine, St. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Marco Fabbri: Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Viale Ellittico 31, 81100 Caserta, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-11

Abstract: It has been recently proposed that mindfulness can improve sleep quality through the mediating role on psychological distress and that acceptance may play a pivotal role in mindfulness beneficial effects. The aim of the present work was to understand the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on dispositional mindfulness, sleep, and distress, and on their relationships. In particular, we wanted to test the hypothesis that the detrimental effects of lockdown on sleep depended on mindfulness and distress (including anxiety and depression) and that the acceptance facet of mindfulness played the leading role. A longitudinal study based on self-report questionnaires was conducted on 39 Italian adults (M age = 35.03, SD = 14.02; 21 men) assessing mindfulness, distress, and sleep quality before (23 December 2019–8 March 2020) and during (27 April 2020–10 May 2020) the first Italian COVID-19 lockdown. Lockdown decreased mindfulness while increasing distress and sleep problems. Path analysis showed that the effects of lockdown on sleep were fully mediated by mindfulness and distress. Furthermore, a more detailed analysis showed that these effects were mainly dependent on the acceptance component of mindfulness working through anxiety. The present study confirms, in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown, a model according to which mindfulness, and specifically acceptance, influences sleep through the mediating role of distress.

Keywords: sleep quality; mindfulness; distress; COVID-19 lockdown; longitudinal study; path analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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