When Mindfulness Becomes a Mental Health Risk: The Relevance of Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Need Frustration

Abstract

Although a great deal of research has shown the positive effects of mindfulness on mental health, some studies have provided evidence that mindfulness can have negative consequences. However, not much is known about the conditions that can account for such negative effects. We examined the moderating roles of difficulties in emotion regulation and basic psychological need frustration in the relationship between mindfulness and psychological ill-being. Longitudinal data were collected at three points in time during a 6-month period from two adult samples in Turkey and Germany. Self-report measures were used to measure ill-being, mindfulness, emotion regulation difficulties, and need frustration. In the German sample, difficulties in emotion regulation and need frustration were related to ill-being, but there were no significant interactions. In the Turkish sample, need frustration predicted ill-being, and the interaction between mindfulness and difficulties in emotion regulation also predicted ill-being. Mindfulness was a protective factor among people with no major difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas it was a risk factor among those with emotion regulation difficulties. The findings suggest that the relationship between mindfulness and ill-being may be more complex than previously thought.

Keywords:

• Mindfulness
• emotion regulation
• need frustration
• ill-being
• mental health

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Karin Huebert, Mona Taube, and Berfu Ulusoy for collecting the data and providing support. We thank Jane Zagorski for language editing.

Disclosure Statement

This manuscript and its analyses have not been published in any part or capacity, and this manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sevgi Serhatoğlu

Sevgi Serhatoğlu completed her PhD in Counseling Psychology at the Middle East Technical University and is a mental health counselor at the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. Her main research interests include procrastination, basic psychological needs, and Gestalt therapy.

Selda Koydemir

Selda Koydemir has a PhD in psychological counseling and is currently an Honorary Professor at the University of Bamberg, Department of Psychology. She studies the psychological and cultural predictors of subjective well-being and happiness and the efficacy of positive psychological interventions.

Astrid Schütz

Astrid Schütz is a professor of Psychology and Director of the Competence Center for Applied Personnel Psychology at the University of Bamberg. Her research focuses on personality in social interactions and personal resources in coping with stress.