Impact of a Momentary Mindfulness Intervention on Rumination, Negative Affect, and their Dynamics in Daily Life.

Practicing brief mindfulness exercises in daily life reduces momentary rumination and negative affect, but does not alter how these two experiences dynamically reinforce each other over time. In a 10-day smartphone study with 91 participants prompted eight times per day, those randomly assigned to a short mindfulness intervention reported lower rumination and negative affect immediately afterward compared to an active-control task. However, the mindfulness exercises did not reliably change the reciprocal relationship between rumination and negative affect. Cultivating mindfulness may help decrease these negative states in the moment without disrupting their underlying dynamic cycle.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Rumination and negative affect are mutually reinforcing experiences. Their dynamic relation can confer vulnerability to psychopathology. Cultivating mindfulness has been proposed to buffer against such downward spirals of negativity. However, it remains unclear whether practicing mindfulness in daily life causally impacts rumination, negative affect, and their dynamics. We investigated this using a micro-randomized intensive longitudinal trial. Participants (N = 91) were prompted eight times per day for 10 days using a smartphone app. At each prompt, participants were randomized to complete a brief mindfulness intervention or an active-control task and then reported levels of rumination and negative affect. Results of dynamic structural equation models showed that the mindfulness intervention led to lower levels of rumination and negative affect but that it had no reliable impact on their dynamics. Thus, cultivating mindfulness in daily life may be a promising approach for decreasing rumination and negative affect but not their dynamical relation. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-024-00291-9.