Psychological Concomitants of Mindfulness

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships of mindful attention awareness and self-esteem, sense of coherence, depression, anxiety and hostility in a Serbian sample. Method: A questionnaire was completed by 405 respondents, 353 females and 52 males, living in Serbia. The age range was between 18 and 45 years. The mean age was 21.8 years (SD = 3.8) for females and 21.8 (SD = 4.4) for males. The questionnaire included scales for measuring mindful attention awareness (Brown, & Ryan, 2003), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), sense of coherence (Antonovsky, 1993), depression, anxiety, and hostility (Derogatis, 1975). Results: All scales in the study correlated significantly with each other. Mindful attention awareness correlated positively with self-esteem and sense of coherence and negatively with depression, anxiety, and hostility. Age did not correlate with any of the scales. Males reported significantly higher levels of mindfulness than females. Females scored significantly higher on depression and anxiety than males, no sex differences were found for self-esteem, sense of coherence or hostility. Respondents with a higher level of mindfulness than the average scored significantly higher on selfesteem and sense of coherence, and significantly lower on depression, anxiety and hostility than those with a low level of mindfulness. Conclusions: A high level of mindfulness was associated with high levels of selfesteem and sense of coherence, and low levels of depression, anxiety and hostility