Internalizing symptoms and loneliness: Direct effects of mindfulness and protection against the negative effects of peer victimization and exclusion
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Author(s)
Clear, SJ
Zimmer-Gembeck, MJ
Duffy, AL
Barber, BL
Year published
2019
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Show full item recordAbstract
Drawing from dispositional mindfulness research and stress and coping theories, we tested whether adolescents’ dispositional mindfulness was associated with perceptions of peer victimization and exclusion and internalizing symptoms. We further explored the role of dispositional mindfulness as a protective factor buffering the impact of peer victimization and exclusion (PVE) on internalizing symptoms. Participants were 361 (40% boys) adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years (M = 14.9, SD = 1.4) who completed a questionnaire to assess dispositional mindfulness, perceptions of PVE, social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and ...
View more >Drawing from dispositional mindfulness research and stress and coping theories, we tested whether adolescents’ dispositional mindfulness was associated with perceptions of peer victimization and exclusion and internalizing symptoms. We further explored the role of dispositional mindfulness as a protective factor buffering the impact of peer victimization and exclusion (PVE) on internalizing symptoms. Participants were 361 (40% boys) adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years (M = 14.9, SD = 1.4) who completed a questionnaire to assess dispositional mindfulness, perceptions of PVE, social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and loneliness. As expected, more frequent experience of PVE was associated with reporting more symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Further, adolescents who reported higher dispositional mindfulness also reported fewer symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and loneliness, even after controlling for gender and experiences of PVE. Dispositional mindfulness was not protective against (i.e., did not buffer) the effects of PVE on internalizing symptoms. Instead, we found that PVE had a stronger association with symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and loneliness when mindfulness was high relative to when it was medium or low. Yet, victimization was associated with greater social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and loneliness at all levels of mindfulness.
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View more >Drawing from dispositional mindfulness research and stress and coping theories, we tested whether adolescents’ dispositional mindfulness was associated with perceptions of peer victimization and exclusion and internalizing symptoms. We further explored the role of dispositional mindfulness as a protective factor buffering the impact of peer victimization and exclusion (PVE) on internalizing symptoms. Participants were 361 (40% boys) adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years (M = 14.9, SD = 1.4) who completed a questionnaire to assess dispositional mindfulness, perceptions of PVE, social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and loneliness. As expected, more frequent experience of PVE was associated with reporting more symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Further, adolescents who reported higher dispositional mindfulness also reported fewer symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and loneliness, even after controlling for gender and experiences of PVE. Dispositional mindfulness was not protective against (i.e., did not buffer) the effects of PVE on internalizing symptoms. Instead, we found that PVE had a stronger association with symptoms of social anxiety, depression, and loneliness when mindfulness was high relative to when it was medium or low. Yet, victimization was associated with greater social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and loneliness at all levels of mindfulness.
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Journal Title
International Journal of Behavioral Development
Copyright Statement
Sarah J. Clear et al., Internalizing symptoms and loneliness: Direct effects of mindfulness and protection against the negative effects of peer victimization and exclusion, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 1–11, 2019. Copyright 2019 The Authors. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
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This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version
Subject
Psychology
Applied and developmental psychology
Clinical and health psychology
Social and personality psychology