Prosocial Behavior Can Moderate the Relationship Between Rumination and Mindfulness

Abstract

Objective: Rumination, which is a coping style to distress, has become a common mode of thinking about mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Improving mindfulness is an effective way to help people cope with rumination. Individuals who had higher prosocial behaviors reported a high level of mindfulness. This study aimed to explore whether prosocial behavior helps individuals with high-level rumination improve their mindfulness, and explain the reason why prosocial behavior can influence the relationship between mindfulness and rumination. Methods: Introducing prosocial behavior situations, the first study chose 51 high-level rumination and 53 low-level rumination participants and measured the influence of prosocial behavior on mindful attention awareness in the present moment. In the second study, a questionnaire was conducted among 261 participants to explore the moderating effect of prosocial behavior between rumination and mindfulness. Results: In individuals with high-level rumination, DMAAS (mindful attention awareness scale) (posttest-baseline) scores in the prosocial behavior condition were significantly higher compared to those in the control condition (p=0.003). Meanwhile, prosocial behavior played a moderating effect between reflective pondering of rumination and mindfulness (R 2 = 0.03, p=0.004). Conclusions: Encouraging prosocial behavior is an effective way to improve mindfulness in highly ruminative individuals.

Impact of Gratitude on Mental Health of Adults: Mediating Role of Prosocial Behavior Authors

“…Results from the mediation analysis confirmed that prosocial behavior negatively mediated the relationship between gratitude and negative aspects of mental health. These results were consistent with a recent literature given by Meng and Meng (2020) stated that improving gratitude is an effective way to help people cope with the negative aspects of mental health. Individuals who had lower prosocial behavior reported high level of depression and anxiety.…”

“…Previous studies also stated that gratitude may influence people to repay a favor by engaging in prosocial behavior. Studies have determined that prosocial behavior can also improve the mental health problems (Grant & Gino, 2010;Meng & Meng, 2020).…”

Development and Preliminary Italian Validation of the Emergency Response and Psychological Adjustment Scale

“…The active momentum limits the opportunities for remorse and self-criticism and the sense of stalemate and blockage (Klein and Epley, 2014;Futamura, 2018;Leder et al, 2020;Shi et al, 2020). As pointed out by Meng and Meng (2020), encouraging prosocial behavior is also an effective way to improve mindfulness in highly ruminative individuals.…”

Thinking too much: How young people experience rumination in the context of loneliness

“…For example, in one study, 15 min of online positive affect journaling three times a week for 12 weeks reduced mental distress and increased wellbeing (Smyth et al, 2018). Prosocial behaviour has also been shown to help diminish rumination by improving mindful awareness and attention to the present (Meng & Meng, 2020). Focusing on helping other people in need allows one to disengage from one's own thoughts and emotions and invest one's cognitive resources elsewhere.…”