How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students.
University students constitute a population that is highly vulnerable to developing mental health problems, such as distress. The role of different variables associated with the development of states of stress has been studied in order to identify potential risk and protective factors. This study ex...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280791 |
| _version_ | 1797850421950152704 |
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| author | David Martínez-Rubio Ariadna Colomer-Carbonell Juan P Sanabria-Mazo Adrián Pérez-Aranda Jaime Navarrete Cristina Martínez-Brotóns Cristina Escamilla Anna Muro Jesús Montero-Marín Juan V Luciano Albert Feliu-Soler |
| author_facet | David Martínez-Rubio Ariadna Colomer-Carbonell Juan P Sanabria-Mazo Adrián Pérez-Aranda Jaime Navarrete Cristina Martínez-Brotóns Cristina Escamilla Anna Muro Jesús Montero-Marín Juan V Luciano Albert Feliu-Soler |
| author_sort | David Martínez-Rubio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | University students constitute a population that is highly vulnerable to developing mental health problems, such as distress. The role of different variables associated with the development of states of stress has been studied in order to identify potential risk and protective factors. This study explored whether mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance, while controlling for specific sociodemographic and academic variables, were potential significant protective or risk factors explaining perceived stress in a sample of 589 Spanish university students (81.2% female, age range 18-48 years). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed using an exploratory cross-sectional design. Higher experiential avoidance, lower self-compassion, lower mindfulness, not perceiving family support, higher total study hours per week, having a partner (vs. being single), being female (vs. being male), and being older were significantly associated with higher levels of perceived stress. In conclusion, perceived stress in our sample was positively associated with experiential avoidance, which could be regarded as a potential psychological risk variable. In contrast, perceived stress was negatively correlated with self-compassion and mindfulness, which, in turn, could be seen as protective factors. Accordingly, it is concluded that programmes aimed at reducing stress and at improving well-being among university students should include experiential avoidance, self-compassion, and mindfulness as therapeutic targets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T18:59:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34b9835627c2464ca2f107bed61977d3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T18:59:58Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-34b9835627c2464ca2f107bed61977d32023-04-08T05:32:31ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01182e028079110.1371/journal.pone.0280791How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students.David Martínez-RubioAriadna Colomer-CarbonellJuan P Sanabria-MazoAdrián Pérez-ArandaJaime NavarreteCristina Martínez-BrotónsCristina EscamillaAnna MuroJesús Montero-MarínJuan V LucianoAlbert Feliu-SolerUniversity students constitute a population that is highly vulnerable to developing mental health problems, such as distress. The role of different variables associated with the development of states of stress has been studied in order to identify potential risk and protective factors. This study explored whether mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance, while controlling for specific sociodemographic and academic variables, were potential significant protective or risk factors explaining perceived stress in a sample of 589 Spanish university students (81.2% female, age range 18-48 years). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed using an exploratory cross-sectional design. Higher experiential avoidance, lower self-compassion, lower mindfulness, not perceiving family support, higher total study hours per week, having a partner (vs. being single), being female (vs. being male), and being older were significantly associated with higher levels of perceived stress. In conclusion, perceived stress in our sample was positively associated with experiential avoidance, which could be regarded as a potential psychological risk variable. In contrast, perceived stress was negatively correlated with self-compassion and mindfulness, which, in turn, could be seen as protective factors. Accordingly, it is concluded that programmes aimed at reducing stress and at improving well-being among university students should include experiential avoidance, self-compassion, and mindfulness as therapeutic targets.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280791 |
| spellingShingle | David Martínez-Rubio Ariadna Colomer-Carbonell Juan P Sanabria-Mazo Adrián Pérez-Aranda Jaime Navarrete Cristina Martínez-Brotóns Cristina Escamilla Anna Muro Jesús Montero-Marín Juan V Luciano Albert Feliu-Soler How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students. PLoS ONE |
| title | How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students. |
| title_full | How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students. |
| title_fullStr | How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students. |
| title_full_unstemmed | How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students. |
| title_short | How mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students. |
| title_sort | how mindfulness self compassion and experiential avoidance are related to perceived stress in a sample of university students |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280791 |
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