Homeless people’s trait mindfulness and their resilience – a mediation test on the role of inner peace and hope

Abstract

ABSTRACT The development of resilience is important for homeless people to maintain health and wellbeing. Personal trait mindfulness has received researchers' burgeoning interest regarding its association with one’s resilience. However, very few studies investigate this relationship among homeless people. The current research initiated this exploration and further examined the cognitive (i.e. hopeful thinking) and emotional (i.e. a feeling of inner peace) factors that were assumed to mediate this relationship. The data were collected based on a sample of 172 homeless individuals from a local homeless shelter located in the south-eastern United States. Participants completed a questionnaire that entailed measures of trait mindfulness, resilience, hope, and inner peace. The result of Pearson bivariate correlation revealed that trait mindfulness of homeless people was highly correlated with their resilience. Moreover, a serial mediation model was tested to examine the effects of hope and inner peace on mediating the relationship between trait mindfulness and resilience. The results supported that trait mindfulness of homeless people, through the mediators of hope and inner peace, is conducive to the development of their resilience. The results have unique implications for social service providers to use mindfulness training to build resilience of homeless people.