Fan Siyi, Yu Si, Xu Wei
Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
Psychol Rep. 2025 Apr;128(2):772-790. doi: 10.1177/00332941231166615. Epub 2023 Apr 6.
Mental health problems among college students are increasingly prominent. The negative effects of emotional distress on college students' mental health have been supported empirically. It is important to understand the psychological processes underlying this relationship. Using a longitudinal design, the present study aimed to reveal the explanatory mechanism of the association between dimensions of dispositional mindfulness and mental health problems among Chinese college students by testing the mediating effects of experiential avoidance and intolerance of uncertainty. A total of 907 Chinese college students (57% male; Mage = 20.33 years) were invited to complete self-report questionnaires at two time points. Mindful awareness, acceptance and mental health problems (depression, anxiety and stress) were assessed at baseline (T0). Experiential avoidance, intolerance of uncertainty and mental health problems were assessed at the 6 month follow-up (T1). Following structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses, the results show that high levels of mindful awareness and acceptance may diminish mental health problems by decreasing the levels of experiential avoidance among college students. However, only mindful acceptance diminished mental health problems through decreased intolerance of uncertainty. In addition, our study found that mindful awareness and acceptance may have different functions when working alone. Specifically, these two constructs may have different relationships with mental health. Identifying these mechanisms by which dispositional mindfulness is associated with college students' mental health over time has potential value for the prevention of potential mental health issues and timely interventions.
大学生心理健康问题日益突出。情绪困扰对大学生心理健康的负面影响已得到实证支持。了解这种关系背后的心理过程很重要。本研究采用纵向设计，旨在通过检验经验性回避和不确定性不耐受的中介作用，揭示中国大学生特质正念维度与心理健康问题之间关联的解释机制。共有907名中国大学生（57%为男性；平均年龄=20.33岁）被邀请在两个时间点完成自我报告问卷。在基线时（T0）评估正念觉察、接纳和心理健康问题（抑郁、焦虑和压力）。在6个月随访时（T1）评估经验性回避、不确定性不耐受和心理健康问题。经过结构方程模型（SEM）分析，结果表明，高水平的正念觉察和接纳可能通过降低大学生的经验性回避水平来减少心理健康问题。然而，只有正念接纳通过降低不确定性不耐受来减少心理健康问题。此外，我们的研究发现，正念觉察和接纳单独起作用时可能具有不同的功能。具体而言，这两个构念与心理健康可能有不同的关系。随着时间的推移，确定特质正念与大学生心理健康相关的这些机制，对于预防潜在心理健康问题和及时干预具有潜在价值。
