Do dispositional rumination and/or mindfulness moderate the relationship between life hassles and psychological dysfunction in adolescents?

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the moderating effects of dispositional rumination and mindfulness on the relationship between recent life hassles and adolescent mental health (operationalized as symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress).

Method: Data collected from a sample of 317 Australian high school students comprised an inventory of recent life hassles, measures of dispositional rumination and dispositional mindfulness and an assessment of current symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

Results: An increased incidence of recent life hassles was reliably associated with increased depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress. However, moderation analyses revealed that dispositional rumination exacerbated the relationship between life hassles and symptoms of depression and anxiety, whereas dispositional mindfulness attenuated the relationship between life hassles and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

Conclusions: Interventions to increase dispositional mindfulness in childhood are proposed as a method of protecting the psychological well-being of adolescents confronted by inevitable everyday life stress.

Key words::

• adolescence
• anxiety
• depression
• mindfulness
• rumination
• stress

Declaration of interest: The authors have no financial interest in the research.

Notes

¹The school Principal was provided with group-level DASS data, along with a recommendation that affected students be encouraged to self-identify and seek appropriate psychological treatment.