scholarly journals Cognitive Fusion Mediates the Relationship between Dispositional Mindfulness and Anxiety and Other Negative Emotions: A Study in a Sample of Spanish Primary-School Students

Author(s):  
María García-Gómez ◽  
Joan Guerra ◽  
Victor M. López-Ramos ◽  
José M. Mestre

Nowadays, mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have experimented a remarkable development of studies among childhood and adolescent interventions. For this reason, dispositional mindfulness (DM) measures for children and adolescents have been developed to determine the effectiveness of MBI at this age stage. However, little is known about how key elements of DM (f. e., cognitive de/fusion or experiential avoidance that both conform psychological inflexibility) are involved in the mechanisms of the children and adolescents’ mental health outcomes. This research examined the mediating effect of cognitive fusion between DM and anxiety and other negative emotional states in a sample of 318 Spanish primary-school students (aged between 8 and 16 years, M=11.24, SD=2.19, 50.8% males). Participants completed the AFQ-Y, which is a measure of psychological inflexibility that encompasses cognitive defusion and experiential avoidance; CAMM (DM for children and adolescents), PANAS-N (positive and negative affect measure for children, the Spanish version of PANASC), and STAIC (an anxiety measure for children). The study accomplished ethical standards. As MBI relevant literature has suggested, cognitive defusion was a significant mediator between DM and symptoms of both negative emotions and anxiety in children and adolescents. However, experiential avoidance did not show any significant mediating relationship. Probably, it is needed improvement of the assessment of experiential avoidance. MBI programs for children and adolescents may include more activities for reducing the effects of the cognitive defusion on their emotional distress.

Author(s):  
María García-Gómez ◽  
Joan Guerra ◽  
Víctor M. López-Ramos ◽  
José M. Mestre

Nowadays, mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have experienced a remarkable development of studies among childhood and adolescent interventions. For this reason, dispositional mindfulness (DM) measures for children and adolescents have been developed to determine the effectiveness of MBI at this age stage. However, little is known about how key elements of DM (for example, cognitive de/fusion or experiential avoidance that both confirm psychological inflexibility) are involved in the mechanisms of the children and adolescents’ mental health outcomes. This research examined the mediating effect of cognitive fusion between DM and anxiety and other negative emotional states in a sample of 318 Spanish primary-school students (aged between 8 and 16 years, M = 11.24, SD = 2.19, 50.8% males). Participants completed the AFQ-Y (Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for youth), which is a measure of psychological inflexibility that encompasses cognitive defusion and experiential avoidance; CAMM (DM for children and adolescents), PANAS-N (positive and negative affect measure for children, Spanish version of PANASC), and STAIC (an anxiety measure for children). The study accomplished ethical standards. As MBI relevant literature has suggested, cognitive defusion was a significant mediator between DM and symptoms of both negative emotions and anxiety in children and adolescents. However, experiential avoidance did not show any significant mediating relationship. Probably, an improvement of the assessment of experiential avoidance is needed. MBI programs for children and adolescents may include more activities for reducing effects of the cognitive defusion on their emotional distress.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-113
Author(s):  
P. Pac ◽  
A. Gładka ◽  
M. Maciorkowska ◽  
M. Zalewska ◽  
P. Musiałowski ◽  
...  

Introduction: One of the major nutritional mistakes committed by children and adolescents is snacking between meals. Sweet or salty snacks are rich in simple sugars, fats, preservatives and dyes, and poor in minerals and vitamins. Their excessive consumption can lead to the development of diet-related diseases in the future. Purpose: To evaluate the nutrition of children and adolescents with a focus on snacking between meals. Materials and methods: The study included 162 students from Bialystok schools, of which primary school students accounted for 30.2%, junior high school 38.3%, high school 31.5%. The questionnaire used by the authors contained 27 questions. Results: Regular meals were consumed by only 55.1% of primary school students, 35.5% of junior high school, and 37.3% of high school students. Two and fewer meals a day were consumed by 1.6% to 5.8% of the students studied. First breakfast was omitted by 18.4% of the students in elementary school, 16.1% of junior high school, and 15.7% of high school. Second breakfast was omitted by 12.9% to 17.6% of the respondents.Sweet products instead of a second breakfast were consumed by 44.9% of primary school students, 61.3% of junior high school, and 64.7% of high school students. Snacking most often occurred in the respondents' home (69.4% of elementary school students, 43.5% of secondary level students, and 52.9% of high school students). Water in school was drunk by 85.7% of primary level students, 56.5% of junior high school, and 51.0% of high school. The main source of knowledge about nutrition for 61.2% of primary level students was the family, while television, radio, and the Internet were the main sources of knowledge for 62.7% of high school students. Conclusions: The regularity of eating in the study group decreased with the studied students’ age. The most popular products in the group of younger students were salty snacks and sweets. Healthy snacking was observed more frequently in the group of high school students. The main place of snacking was the home. The primary source of knowledge about nutrition for primary school students was the family and for high school students the mass media.


The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with school refusal behavior in primary school students. Student’s self-report and teacher’s measures were implemented; and students were recruited from 20 primary schools in six districts in Selangor, Malaysia. The survey was conducted at the end of school term in 2016, with a total of 915 students from Year 4 and Year 5 participating. The sample of students had been absent from school for more than 15% of school days in the current year. Pearson correlation shows a significant relationship between academic achievement and school satisfaction toward school refusal behavior. The findings of this study suggest that academic difficulties and dissatisfaction towards school environment could be the important risk factors for school refusal behavior. The present study underscores the importance of early detection and intervention as measures to reduce school refusal. Finally, the findings imply that the role of school factors should always be taken into account in connection with school refusal behaviour.


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