Chain mediation of rumination and anxiety state between mindfulness and depressed mood in infertile women.
Shiqi Luo, Biru Luo, Zihang Wei, Xin Liao
Scientific reports April 23, 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-99147-w
Summary
Mindfulness significantly reduces depressed mood in infertile women, with a total effect size of -0.390. In a study involving 946 participants, mindfulness directly influenced depression by -0.170 and indirectly through rumination thinking and anxiety, accounting for 56.4% of the total effect. The chain mediation path (mindfulness → rumination → anxiety → depression) had a notable effect value of -0.075. This highlights the importance of mindfulness practices in alleviating anxiety and rumination, ultimately benefiting mental health during infertility challenges.
Abstract
The study aims to explore the relationship between mindfulness, rumination thinking, anxiety state, and depressed mood, and the chain mediating roles of rumination thinking and anxiety state in explaining how mindfulness influences depressed mood in infertile women. This cross-sectional study included 946 women with infertility from a maternal and child hospital in western China through convenience sampling. Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Rumination Response Scale (RRS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were measured as outcome indicators. SPSS PROCESS macro program was used to test for chained mediating effects and the significance using the Bootstrap method. The total effect of mindfulness on depressed mood was -0.390 with the direct path effect of -0.170. The total indirect path effect was -0.220, which accounted for 56.4% of the total effect, and that the chain mediated path (FFMQ→RRS→SAS→SDS) effect was significant with a mediation effect value of -0.075. Mindfulness can not only directly affect infertile women's depressed mood, but also indirectly affect that through the chain-mediated effects of rumination thinking and anxiety state.