Abstract
The current study examined the role of trait mindfulness in daily relationship mood and relationship processes in cohabiting couples. Forty-seven couples participated in 24-day online daily questionnaires. Mindfulness in men was associated with higher levels of feeling loved and feeling supported, and mindfulness in women was associated with lower levels of relationship anxiety and relationship sadness. Mindfulness moderated the association between relationship conflict and anxiety, such that men with more mindfulness experienced a larger decrease in feeling supported, and a bigger increase in relationship anxiety, on conflict days compared to non-conflict day levels. These findings overall suggest that trait mindfulness is indeed beneficial for positive relationship process on a day-to-day basis, but that associations are somewhat complex, and also that individual-level trait mindfulness alone may not be sufficient for buffering individuals from the negative impact of conflict.
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Both coauthors were involved in all aspects of the research and writing of this paper. MI and AS designed and executed the study together. MI took the lead with data analysis. Both authors were involved in reviewing and interpreting the results, and in writing the final manuscript.
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Masumi Iida declares that she has no conflict of interest. Alyson F Shapiro declares that she has no conflict of interest. We are grateful to Annalise Ford for participant recruitment assistance and for collecting the data.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Iida, M., Shapiro, A.F. The Role of Mindfulness in Daily Relationship Process: Examining Daily Conflicts and Relationship Mood. Mindfulness 8, 1559–1568 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0727-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0727-9