Trait mindfulness and sleep: Interactions between observing and nonreactivity in the association with sleep health

Elisabeth Bailin Xie; Ivan D Sedov; Hangsel Sanguino; Makayla Freeman; Jeshna Kumari; Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen

doi:10.1177/20551029221149282

Trait mindfulness and sleep: Interactions between observing and nonreactivity in the association with sleep health

Health Psychol Open. 2023 Feb 3;10(1):20551029221149282. doi: 10.1177/20551029221149282. eCollection 2023 Jan-Jun.

Authors

Elisabeth Bailin Xie¹, Ivan D Sedov¹, Hangsel Sanguino¹, Makayla Freeman², Jeshna Kumari³, Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
² Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³ Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Abstract

The current study investigated the associations between trait mindfulness and sleep health and examined the interactions between theoretically related mindfulness subscales. Participants (n = 162, M_age = 19.93) reported trait levels of mindfulness and sleep was assessed using questionnaires and actigraphy. Higher mindfulness scores in awareness, nonreactivity, and nonjudgment were associated with better sleep health. The associations between observing and sleep health were moderated by nonreactivity. Results indicate that observing is associated with better sleep health at higher levels of nonreactivity and worse sleep health at lower levels, helping to explain the often-contradictory findings between observing and health outcomes.

Keywords: Clinical health psychology; Health behaviour; Health promotion; Mindfulness; Sleep.