The dynamic relationship between state mindfulness and negative emotions

The current study examines the dynamic influence of state mindfulness on negative emotions in daily life, and we developed two models to investigate their dynamic relationship after controlling the role of perceived stress. One hundred participants recruited from a Chinese university reported their daily and momentary emotions and their levels of state mindfulness five times per day for an entire week. Participants provided 3,177 valid responses, accounting for 90.77% of all required responses. Using a multilevel model, we found that (a) state mindfulness at Time t + 1 mediated the association between negative emotions at t and at t + 2, and the negative emotions encompasses three aspects (anxiety, depression, and sadness), and (b) negative emotion at t + 1 significantly mediated the association between state mindfulness at t and at t + 2. The current study showed that state mindfulness and negative emotions could reciprocally weaken each other, meaning that they demonstrate a counterproductive relationship.