title: Positive but Rarely Protective: Associations of Adolescents' Mindfulness with Emotional Adjustment and Responses to Rejection by Peers
Creators: name: Clear, Sarah J
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: dispositional mindfulness
subject: emotional distress
subject: social distress
subject: emotional well-being
subject: peer victimisation

description: Dispositional mindfulness has been described as the self-regulation of sustained attention to thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the present moment in a way characterised by curiosity, openness, and acceptance (Bishop et al., 2004). As a construct, dispositional mindfulness is expected to activate internal mechanisms, including cognitive, emotional, and behavioural flexibility, which facilitate adaptive emotion and behavioural regulation (Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, &amp; Freedman, 2006). Multiple stress and coping theories (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, &amp; Wadsworth, 2001; Skinner &amp; Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007, 2016) and neurodevelopmental perspectives (e.g., Sanger &amp; Dorjee, 2015) identify flexibility and regulation as parts of the process of successfully attending, responding, and adapting to stressful events. One significant form of stress can come from social relationships that are rejecting or unsupportive. Accepting, close and supportive social interactions and relationships with others are essential experiences that are foundations for the fulfillment of the basic human need for relatedness, one of three psychological needs proposed in Self-Determination Theory (Ryan &amp; Deci, 2000). Relatedness, in Self-Determination Theory, is defined as the need to belong to social groups and to be related to, and valued by, others. When the need for relatedness is not met because of social rejection, social disconnection or a lack of supportive relationships, this signals an unmet relatedness need that can be thought of as akin to a stressful experience. The associated distress from this unmet need can be significant and long-lasting, and experiencing stressful events that threaten relatedness can have far-reaching negative impacts on well-being. Yet, there are individual differences in sensitivity to threats to relatedness that might be explained by dispositional traits such as mindfulness. However, there has been limited research focused on whether mindfulness, as a naturally occurring disposition, is associated with emotional adjustment and responses Adolescent Dispositional Mindfulness vi to one of the most common distressing interpersonal experiences during adolescence and young adulthood, namely victimisation and rejection by peers. Drawing from dispositional mindfulness research, stress and coping theories, Self-Determination Theory, and past research that identifies peer victimisation and exclusion as a significant threat to relatedness, this research had two general aims. The first aim was to investigate whether dispositional mindfulness is negatively associated with emotional and social distress, focusing on its association with self-reported loneliness, social anxiety, depression (Study 1), as well as perceived threat to relatedness (i.e., feelings of rejection and exclusion) following a laboratory experience of rejection by peers (also referred to here as social exclusion; Study 2). The second aim was to test whether dispositional mindfulness was protective of emotional well-being when peer victimisation and exclusion had been personally experienced (Study 1) or directly after its occurrence (in Study 2). Study 1 included 361 Australian adolescents, aged 11-18 years, recruited from a large independent public high school. Study 2 included 90 adolescents and young adults aged 16-23 years recruited from a large urban university. In Study 1, dispositional mindfulness was examined as a direct correlate of internalising symptoms (loneliness, social anxiety, and depression) and tested as a buffer of the associations of stress in the peer domain (peer victimisation and exclusion) with symptoms. Results indicated that dispositional mindfulness was associated with better emotional well-being, but it was not protective (i.e., did not buffer) against the association of peer victimisation and exclusion with adolescents’ elevated symptoms of loneliness, social anxiety, and depression. The aims of Study 2 were accomplished by participants attending a research laboratory at a university and engaging in a simulated experience of peer social exclusion via an online ball tossing game called Cyberball. Before and following the Adolescent Dispositional Mindfulness vii game plus after a delay, participants completed several items to report mood, social feelings, and perceived life meaning to investigate reactions and recovery from the experience of social exclusion. Results indicated that dispositional mindfulness was a resource for presenting with more positive emotions and friendly feelings towards others prior to Cyberball and was associated with greater recovery from the negative mood following social exclusion during Cyberball. This study also considered threat appraisal (i.e., how rejected participants felt after Cyberball), finding that higher threat appraisal was associated with more negative reactions across all measures. Also, participants with high dispositional mindfulness and low appraisal of threat reported the most positivity following social exclusion. Three general conclusions are drawn from the results of the two studies: 1) adolescents and young adults who report more dispositional mindfulness report better adjustment; 2) adolescents with more capacity for dispositional mindfulness are not universally protected from the negative outcomes following the stress of naturally occurring peer victimisation and exclusion or induced social exclusion, however there is some promise that mindfulness may enhance mood recovery; and 3) the negative impact of social threat and exclusion by others seems pervasive and difficult to avoid. Future research, recommendations, and practical implications when working with adolescents and young adults are discussed. Improving mindfulness can improve emotional adjustment and lead to more positive peer interpersonal relationships. However, mindfulness interventions are not a one size fits all approach, and, in fact, under particular conditions could be harmful to some young people. The current thesis provides a foundation from which to better identify why and when mindfulness may be of benefit to young people, promoting more adaptive social functioning and well-being.