The relationship between dispositional mindfulness, stress appraisal, and the cortisol awakening response

Dispositional mindfulness is associated with less psychological distress and greater positive affect. However, the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and physiological stress prior to meditation training is unknown. We assessed associations between dimensions of dispositional mindfulness (Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills; KIMS and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; MAAS), perceived stress, rumination, trait anxiety, negative affect, positive affect, and the cortisol awakening response (CAR)—an indicator of neuroendocrine arousal—among overweight/obese women. We hypothesized that psychological distress and positive affect would mediate the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and the CAR. The study demonstrated that lower CARs were related to higher mindfulness scores on three of the four KIMS subscales, and the MAAS. Mediation analyses revealed that perceived stress and rumination mediated the relationship between the MAAS and the CAR; rumination also mediated the relationship between the KIMS Accept subscale, and the CAR. Mindfulness was also related to the CAR independent of psychological distress and positive affect. These findings suggest components of mindfulness, including greater acceptance of one's experience and attention to performing everyday activities, may reduce the CAR through reductions in stress appraisals and ruminative thought, though other pathways need to be investigated. Further research is warranted to confirm whether mindfulness training alters the CAR, and to identify mediators of this effect.