Relationships between Mindfulness, Purpose in Life, Happiness, Anxiety, and Depression: Testing a Mediation Model in a Sample of Women

Antonio Crego, José Ramón Yela, María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez, Pablo Riesco-Matías and Cristina Petisco-Rodríguez
Additional contact information
Antonio Crego: Department of Psychology, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle de la Compañía 5, 37002 Salamanca, Spain
José Ramón Yela: Department of Psychology, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle de la Compañía 5, 37002 Salamanca, Spain
María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez: Department of Psychology, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle de la Compañía 5, 37002 Salamanca, Spain
Pablo Riesco-Matías: Department of Psychology, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle de la Compañía 5, 37002 Salamanca, Spain
Cristina Petisco-Rodríguez: Faculty of Education, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle Henry Collet 52-70, 37007 Salamanca, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Mindfulness is connected to positive outcomes related to mental health and well-being. However, the psychological mechanisms that account for these relationships are largely unknown. A multiple-step multiple mediator structural equation modeling (SEM) model was tested with mindfulness as the independent variable; purpose in life and behavioral activation as serial mediators; and happiness, anxiety, and depression as outcome measures. Data were obtained from 1267 women. Higher mindfulness was associated with higher levels of happiness and lower anxiety and depression symptoms. The association of mindfulness with the outcome variables could be partially accounted for by purpose in life and behavioral activation. The SEM model explained large proportions of variance in happiness (50%), anxiety (34%), and depression (44%) symptoms. Mindfulness is associated with both a sense of purpose in life and engagement in activities, which are also connected with positive outcomes. Moreover, having purposes in life is linked to higher levels of behavioral activation.

Keywords: mindfulness; purpose in life; behavioral activation; happiness; anxiety; depression (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 (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/925/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/925/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:925-:d:484718

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().