Impact of a Momentary Mindfulness Intervention on Rumination, Negative Affect, and their Dynamics in Daily Life

Rumination and negative affect are mutually reinforcing experiences. Their dynamic relation can confer vulnerability to psychopathology. Cultivating mindfulness has been proposed as an antidote to such downward spirals of negativity. However, it remains unclear whether practicing mindfulness in daily life causally impacts rumination, negative affect, and their dynamics. We investigated this using a micro-randomized intensive longitudinal trial. Participants (N = 91) were prompted eight times per day for 10 days using a smartphone app. At each prompt, participants were randomized to complete a brief mindfulness intervention or an active-control task and then reported levels of rumination and negative affect. Results of dynamic structural equation models showed that the mindfulness intervention led to lower levels of rumination and negative affect but that it had no reliable impact on their dynamics. Thus, cultivating mindfulness in daily life may be a promising approach for decreasing rumination and negative affect but not their dynamical relation.