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. 2022 Dec 15:319:437-445.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.09.062. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

The association of mindfulness and psychological well-being among individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 in Jianghan District, Wuhan, China: A cross-sectional study

Zhenwei Dai  1 , Hao Wang  2 , Weijun Xiao  2 , Yiman Huang  2 , Mingyu Si  2 , Jiaqi Fu  2 , Xu Chen  2 , Mengmeng Jia  3 , Zhiwei Leng  4 , Dan Cui  5 , Liming Dong  6 , Winnie W S Mak  7 , Xiaoyou Su  8
Affiliations

The association of mindfulness and psychological well-being among individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 in Jianghan District, Wuhan, China: A cross-sectional study

Zhenwei Dai et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: In the global pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have commonly occurred among COVID-19 patients, whose experiences of infection and subsequent treatment might develop negative consequences on their mental well-being even after recovery. Despite the general recognition of efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing psychological distress among various populations, there were insufficient studies on the relationship between mindfulness and mental health among individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

Objective: The current study aims to identify the prevalence of common mental health challenges among recovered COVID-19 patients in Jianghan District, Wuhan, China and to explore the potential mechanism through which mindfulness alleviate depression and PTSD.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey on mental health was conducted among a convenience sample of adults recovered from COVID-19 in Jianghan District, Wuhan, China. The study participants completed questionnaires under the assistance of trained investigators. The questionnaire included Chinese version of Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form (FFMQ-SF), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7), Resilience Style Questionnaire (RSQ), Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to measure mindfulness, anxiety, resilience, PTSD, and depression respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the relationship between mindfulness and mental health outcomes of this population.

Results: 1541 respondents (654 [42.4 %] men and 887 [57.6 %] women) completed the questionnaire between June 10 and July 25, 2021, of whom 36.2 % and 27.1 % had mild and severe levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms respectively, and 15.2 % was indicated with PTSD. The average score of mindfulness of the study participants was (3.100 ± 0.387), and that of resilience was (3.560 ± 0.877). The structural equation model fit the data well, demonstrating that mindfulness was negatively associated with depressive symptoms directly (β = -0.031, P = 0.021) or indirectly through the mediation effect of resilience (β = -0.019, P = 0.009) and anxiety symptoms (β = -0.208, P < 0.001), and was negatively associated with PTSD through the mediation effect of anxiety symptoms (β = -0.142, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 commonly experienced psychological distress. Mindfulness is associated with alleviation of depressive and PTSD symptoms directly or indirectly. Interventions based on mindfulness are suggested to improve the mental well-being of this population.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental health; Mindfulness; Recovered patients; Structural equation modeling.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Structural equation modeling of factors affecting depression and PTSD among the recovered patients of COVID-19. Note: *P < 0.05 **P < 0.01 ***P < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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