Mindful Acceptance Predicts Writing Achievement in 6th-Graders

ABSTRACT

Writing is a complex task that requires the activation and coordination of several processes. In addition to the research on the domain-specific factors that contribute to school achievement, there is an increasing interest on general variables, such as mindfulness. Here, we aimed to test the contribution of middle-grade students’ trait mindfulness to writing achievement, after controlling for well-known writing predictors. One hundred and eighty-seven 6th-graders (M = 11.66 years) were assessed on transcription, text quality, executive functions, and self-reported trait mindfulness. Preliminary analyses showed that our trait mindfulness measure had two factors: mindful awareness and acceptance. However, because only the latter was found to be reliable, main analyses were exclusively focused on the acceptance facet of mindfulness. A multiple hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. After controlling for demographic characteristics (Step 1), transcription skills (Step 2), and executive functions (Step 3), we examined the predictive role of mindful acceptance (Step 4) to writing achievement. Findings indicated that mindful acceptance had a significant contribution to writing achievement in Grade 6 (b = .18). These are pioneering findings about the contribution of mindful acceptance to writing. The putative mechanism underlying this contribution is discussed, and indications for future research are proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• Executive functions
• mindful acceptance
• mindfulness
• transcription
• writing achievement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the M2S Project funded through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization, supported by FEDER and national funds allocated to the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-028404) and benefited from a grant by FCT attributed to the first author (PD/BD/135428/2017).