Mindfulness in Adolescents: Its Effect on Psychological Distress Leading to Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Abstract

Psychological distress perceived as inescapable can lead to suicidal thinking and behavior in individuals with emotion dysregulation. Mindfulness has been shown to improve emotion regulation in adolescents and can therefore be used as an intervention to reduce suicidal thinking and behavior. In this study, the (negative) association between mindfulness and psychological distress was tested in a sample of adolescents in an inpatient clinical setting at the Franciscan Children’s Hospital. Psychological distress was measured with button presses on the wristband provided to subjects. Mindfulness was measured at intake with two self-report measures: Mindful Attention Awareness Scale - Adolescents (MAAS-A) and Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences - Adolescents (CHIME-A). Multi-Level Modeling was used to model the dependent variable, distressed button presses by day, within the context of each subject. The CHIME-A based model predicted increasing psychological distress as hypothesized whereas the MAAS-A model predicted otherwise. Neither of the models was significant.