Effect of cognitive flexibility in mindfulness intervention for emotional distress: Two randomized controlled trials.
Journal of counseling psychology July 14, 2025 Zhenzhen Wang, Mo Chen, Amy Hu et al. 2 citations
Two randomized controlled trials tested whether cognitive flexibility—the ability to shift attention—explains how a mindfulness intervention reduces emotional distress. In Study 1, 607 highly distressed adults were assigned to an eight-week mindfulness program or a waitlist. In Study 2, 89 similar participants were assigned to the program or a control group. Both trials showed that the mindfulness program significantly improved anxiety, depression, and general distress. Changes in cognitive flexibility during the intervention statistically mediated later reductions in emotional distress. Specifically, shifting attention away from affective to nonaffective aspects of positive stimuli at week 5, and less shifting from negative to positive affective aspects at week 3, predicted greater distress relief at week 7. The findings indicate cognitive flexibility is a key mechanism of mindfulness-based intervention for emotional distress.