Mindfulness and Distress Tolerance: Relations in a Mindfulness Preventive Intervention

Abstract

The present study evaluated the effect of a randomized preventive mindfulness intervention, and the development of mindfulness skills, as indexed by the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003) and the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS; Tanay & Bernstein, 2013), on distress tolerance promotion, as indexed by the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS; Simons & Gaher, 2005) and the Discomfort Intolerance Scale (DIS; Schmidt, Richey, & Fitzpatrick, 2006). Fifty-three adult participants between age 20 and 52 (Mage = 25.2 years, SDage = 4.3 years; 65.4% women), recruited from the general Haifa University community, were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness skills training intervention group or wait-list control group. Participants in both groups completed assessments over the course of the 4-week intervention. Results demonstrated a significant effect of the mindfulness intervention on perceived affective distress tolerance as a function of the combined effect of change in dispositional and sta...