Assessing mindfulness as a moderator between trait worry and working memory capacity performance in undergraduates

Mindfulness and worry have some antithetical qualities, yet mixed or non-significant findings suggest that practicing mindfulness alone will not disrupt worry. Working memory capacity (WMC) has been implicated in the relationship between worry and mindfulness, with some research showing that the combined practice of mindfulness and WMC test exercises had the greatest impact on reducing worry. The present study sought to test the relationship between worry, trait mindfulness, behavioral mindfulness as assessed by a Mindfulness Activities Questionnaire (MAQ) created by the researcher, and both the verbal and visuospatial domains of WMC. Worry was shown to be negatively associated with mindfulness. All WM scores showed non-significant associations apart from a weak positive association between verbal WM efficiency and behavioral mindfulness. Both domains of WM predicted similar outcomes in mindfulness. Mindfulness was not shown to moderate the relationship between worry and WMC. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Farmer, William

Contributors dc:contributor

• Howell, Ashley N.
• Walker, Ruth; Clark, Amanda J.
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Worry
• Mindfulness (Psychology)
• Short-term memory

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/807

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1989