Examining the psychological and emotional mechanisms of mindfulness that reduce stress to enhance healthy behaviours

Abstract

Engagement in modifiable health behaviours plays a critical role in the development of chronic illnesses. Research suggests that mindfulness facilitates health-enhancing behaviour, yet the influence of mindfulness on different health behaviours and the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. This study investigated a mediation model that explores psychological and emotional coping processes (reappraisal, suppression, and psychological flexibility) as mechanisms connecting mindfulness to reduced stress perceptions and reactions, which then predict physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and sleep quality. Adults (n=233) completed self-report measures via Amazon's Mechanical Turk and path modelling was used to test the model for direct, indirect, and total effects. Results revealed that greater mindfulness was indirectly associated with greater engagement in all 3 health behaviours through the proposed mediators, although the association with fruit and vegetable consumption was only trending in significance. Among the coping processes, psychological flexibility emerged as the strongest mechanism in the prediction of stress. Findings suggest that being more mindful may have downstream stress-reductive effects that enhance engagement in healthy behaviour, supporting mindfulness as a potential addition to behavioural health interventions.