Mindfulness and Cancer Patients’ Emotional States: a Latent Profile Analysis Among Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients

Abstract

Variable-centred approaches indicate that mindfulness might protect against psychological distress. Person-centred approaches, such as latent profile analysis (LPA), provide researchers with additional tools to identify profiles of mindfulness based on individuals’ patterns of response to each facet of the construct. Recent studies using LPA in non-cancer populations suggest that individuals demonstrate one of four profiles of mindfulness: low mindfulness, judgmentally observing, non-judgmentally aware, or high mindfulness. However, it is not known whether such profiles hold true in cancer or Asian populations. The present cross-sectional study therefore sought to identify profiles of mindfulness in a cohort of newly diagnosed cancer patients in Asia, and examined their associations with sociodemographic and medical variables, and depressive and anxious symptoms. A total of 212 patients (M age = 49.26, SD = 9.30 years; 68% female; 60% Chinese) completed the short form of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. In line with previous research, four profiles of mindfulness were identified using LPA: low mindfulness (51%), judgmentally observing (24%), non-judgmentally aware (7%), and high mindfulness (18%). As compared to the high mindfulness profile, the non-judgmentally aware profile was associated with male gender and lower education; both the low mindfulness and the judgmentally observing profiles were associated with higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms. A majority of patients demonstrated profiles characterised by globally low levels of mindfulness and which were associated with higher levels of emotional distress. A consideration of these profiles might allow clinicians to provide more targeted interventions to cancer patients.