Abstract
Research on mindful awareness and executive function (EF) has increased in recent years, albeit mostly independently. Both having a unique role in the human capacity for higher-order cognitive processing, there is scientific and practical utility in examining the interrelationships between these cognitive constructs. The purpose of this study was to test associations between dispositional levels of mindfulness and EF in a diverse sample of 152 early adolescents (mean age = 12.9). Two analytic models were tested. The first tested the association between dispositional mindfulness and a latent factor consisting of three EF processes: inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. The second simultaneously tested associations between mindfulness and each EF to determine whether associations were specific to individual EF processes. Results demonstrated that mindfulness was significantly associated with higher scores on the latent EF factor. When associations between mindfulness and individual EF processes were tested, mindfulness was positively associated with inhibitory control and working memory, but not cognitive flexibility despite a significant bivariate correlation. Findings indicate that mindful awareness was positively associated with the executive function processes of working memory and inhibitory control in early adolescence.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, V. A., Anderson, P., Northam, E., Jacobs, R., & Mikiewicz, O. (2002). Relationships between cognitive and behavioral measures of executive function in children with brain disease. Child Neuropsychology, 8, 231–240.
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13, 27–45.
Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., et al. (2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 230–241.
Black, D. S. (2010). Incorporating mindfulness within established theories of health behavior. Complementary Health Practice Review, 15, 108–109.
Black, D. S. (2015). Mindfulness training for children and adolescents: A state-of-the-science review. In K. Brown, D. Creswell, & R. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 283–310). New York: Guilford Press.
Black, D. S., Milam, J., & Sussman, S. (2009). Sitting-meditation interventions among youth: A review of treatment efficacy. Pediatrics, 124, 532–541.
Black, D. S., Semple, R. J., Pokhrel, P., & Grenard, J. L. (2011). Component processes of executive function—mindfulness, self-control, and working memory—and their relationships with mental and behavioral health. Mindfulness, 2, 179–185.
Black, D. S., Sussman, S., Johnson, C. A., & Milam, J. (2012a). Psychometric assessment of the mindful attention awareness scale (MAAS) among Chinese adolescents. Assessment, 19, 42–52.
Black, D. S., Sussman, S., Johnson, C. A., & Milam, J. (2012b). Testing the indirect effect of trait mindfulness on adolescent cigarette smoking through negative affect and perceived stress mediators. Journal of Substance Use, 17, 417–429.
Black, D. S., Sussman, S., Johnson, C. A., & Milam, J. (2012c). Trait mindfulness helps shield decision-making from translating into health risk behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51, 588–592.
Blair, C., & Razza, R. P. (2007). Relating effortful control, executive function, and false belief understanding to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten. Child Development, 78, 647–663.
Borders, A., Earleywine, M., & Jajodia, A. (2010). Could mindfulness decrease anger, hostility, and aggression by decreasing rumination? Aggressive Behavior, 36, 28–44.
Bowlin, S. L., & Baer, R. A. (2011). Relationships between mindfulness, self-control, and psychological functioning. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 411–415.
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848.
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Perils and promise in defining and measuring mindfulness: Observations from experience. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 11, 242–248.
Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18, 211–237.
Brown, K. W., West, A. M., Loverich, T. M., & Biegel, G. M. (2011). Assessing adolescent mindfulness: Validation of an adapted mindful attention awareness scale in adolescent and psychiatric populations. Psychological Assessment, 23, 1023–1033.
Cash, M., & Whittingham, K. (2010). What facets of mindfulness contribute to psychological well-being and depressive, anxious, and stress-related symptomatology? Mindfulness, 1, 177–182.
Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., & Hagger, M. S. (2007). Mindfulness and the intention-behavior relationship within the theory of planned behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 663–676.
Ciesla, J. A., Reilly, L. C., Dickson, K. S., Emanuel, A. S., & Updegraff, J. A. (2012). Disopositional mindfulness moderates the effects of stress among adolescent: Rumination as a mediator. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 41, 760–770.
Davidson, M. C., Amso, D., Anderson, L. C., & Diamond, A. (2006). Development of cognitive control and executive functions from 4 to 13 years: Evidence from manipulations of memory, inhibition, and task switching. Neuropsychologia, 44, 2037–2078.
Dekeyser, M., Raes, F., Leijssen, M., Leysen, S., & Dewulf, D. (2008). Mindfulness skills and interpersonal behaviour. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1235–1245.
Gioia, G. A., & Isquith, P. K. (2004). Ecological assessment of executive function in traumatic brain injury. Developmental Neuropsychology, 25, 135–158.
Glomb, T. M., Duffy, M. K., Bono, J. E., & Yang, T. (2011). Mindfulness at work. In J. Martocchio, H. Liao, & A. Joshi (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 30, pp. 115–157). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Gogtay, N., Giedd, J., & Rapoport, J. L. (2002). Brain development in healthy, hyperactive, and psychotic children. Archives of Neurology, 59, 1244–1248.
Guy, S. C., Isquith, P. K., & Gioia, G. A. (2004). Behavior rating inventory of executive function-self-report version. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources Inc.
Joormann, J. (2006). Differential effects of rumination and dysphoria on the inhibition of irrelevant emotional material: Evidence of a negative priming task. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30, 149–160.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1982). An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical considerations and preliminary results. General Hospital Psychiatry, 4, 33–47.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice, 10, 144–156.
Keng, S.-L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 1041–1056.
Ludwig, D. S., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2008). Mindfulness in medicine. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300, 1350–1352.
Lyvers, M., Makin, C., Toms, E., Thorberg, F. A., & Samios, C. (2014). Trait mindfulness in relation to emotional self-regulation and executive function. Mindfulness, 5, 619–625.
McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Connor, C. M., Farris, C. L., Jewkes, A. M., & Morrison, F. J. (2007). Links between behavioral regulation and preschoolers’ literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. Developmental Psychology, 43, 947–959.
Oberle, E., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Lawlor, M. S., & Thomson, K. C. (2011). Mindfulness and inhibitory control in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 32, 565–588.
Pennington, B. F., & Ozonoff, S. (1996). Executive function and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1, 51–87.
Petter, M., Chambers, C. T., McGrath, P. J., & Dick, B. D. (2013). The role of trait mindfulness in the pain experience of adolescents. The Journal of Pain, 14, 1709–1718.
Raes, F., & Williams, M. G. (2010). The relationship between mindfulness and uncontrollability of ruminative thinking. Mindfulness, 1, 199–203.
Rasmussen, M. K., & Pidgeon, A. M. (2011). The direct and indirect benefits of dispositional mindfulness on self-esteem and social anxiety. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 24, 227–233.
Raver, C. C., Blair, C., & Willoughby, M. (2013). Poverty as a predictor of 4-year-olds’ executive function: A new perspectives on models of differential susceptibility. Developmental Psychology, 49, 292–304.
Rosenberg, M., Noonan, S., DeGutis, J., & Esterman, M. (2013). Sustaining visual attention in the face of distraction: A novel gradual-onset continuous performance task. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 75, 426–439.
Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 615–623.
Thompson, B. L., & Waltz, J. (2007). Everyday mindfulness and mindfulness meditation: Overlapping constructs or not? Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1875–1885.
Toplak, M. E., Bucciarelli, S. M., Jain, U., & Tannock, R. (2008). Executive functions: Performance-based measures and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) in adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Child Neuropsychology, 15, 53–72.
Whitmer, A. J., & Banich, M. T. (2007). Inhibition versus switching deficits in different forms of rumination. Psychological Science, 18, 546–553.
Zelazo, P. D., Carlson, S. M., & Kesek, A. (2008). The development of executive function in childhood. In C. Nelson & M. Luciana (Eds.), Handbook of developmental cognitive neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 553–574). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Zelazo, P. D., & Lyons, K. E. (2012). The potential benefits of mindfulness training in early childhood: A developmental social cognitive neuroscience approach. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 154–160.
Zoogman, S., Goldberg, S. B., Hoyt, W. T., & Miller, L. (2014). Mindfulness interventions with youth: A meta-analysis. Mindfulness: DOI. doi:10.1007/s12671-013-0260-4.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Riggs, N.R., Black, D.S. & Ritt-Olson, A. Associations Between Dispositional Mindfulness and Executive Function in Early Adolescence. J Child Fam Stud 24, 2745–2751 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0077-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0077-3