Exploration of mindfulness skills and COVID-19 anxiety: a latent profile analysis

ABSTRACTEXPLORATION OF MINDFULNESS SKILLS AND COVID-19 ANXIETY: A LATENT PROFILE ANALYSIS MARIAH MILLER Consistent with research on the psychosocial impacts of past viral epidemics, emerging work indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic is a source of increased psychological distress for many individuals. Although abundant research now documents risk factors for pandemic-related anxiety, far less is understood about protective factors that may help individuals cope with anxiety during ongoing global crises like COVID-19. Mindfulness, i.e., the ability to non-judgmentally attend to life with an open awareness of sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings as they occur, has been linked to improving resilience to distress and has been associated with improved health outcomes. However, mindfulness skills in the general population vary significantly and little is known about how such variability is associated with elevated COVID-19 anxiety. Building on prior literature documenting subgroups of individuals with different levels of mindfulness skills, this study aimed (1) to identify groups with varying levels of mindfulness skills within the general population during COVID-19; and (2) to examine the relationship between mindfulness and COVID-19 anxiety. Using data collected from an online survey of mindfulness and COVID-19 anxiety in 477 adults, a latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted to classify individuals according to levels of mindfulness in targeted areas. Consistent with previous studies utilizing populations of college students and clinical samples, the results of this study supported a four-profile solution. Of these groups, the Judgmentally Observing group had the highest COVID-19 anxiety and High Mindfulness group had the lowest COVID-19 anxiety. Results and implications for intervention are discussed in the context of the study’s strengths and limitations. Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, coping self-efficacy, anxiety, distress, latent profile analysis (LPA), mindfulness, stres