Graduate Program

Clinical Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2013

Thesis Director

Ronan S. Bernas

Thesis Committee Member

Marjorie Hanft

Thesis Committee Member

Wesley D. Allan

Abstract

Mindfulness is the act of "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally" (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p.4). Mindfulness training has been shown to produce beneficial effects for a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms, including substance abuse (Baer, 2003). The current study attempted to test a working model of how mindfulness can enhance psychological well-being developed by Hölzel et al. (2011) within the specific context of alcohol use. It was hypothesized that higher levels of mindfulness would be associated with less alcohol use and less alcohol-related problems experienced. In addition, this study investigated whether this predicted inverse relationship between mindfulness and alcohol use is mediated by attention regulation, emotion regulation, body awareness, and change in perspective on the self. One hundred fifty-seven Eastern Illinois University students participated in the study through an online survey. The results of the study demonstrated that mindfulness was, indeed, negatively correlated with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. In addition, mindfulness was positively correlated with attention regulation, emotion regulation, body awareness, and change in perspective on the self. Subsequent analyses demonstrated that emotion regulation fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and alcohol use, while attention regulation, body awareness, and change in perspective on the self did not act as mediators. Clinical implications of this research, limitations, and suggestions for future studies were discussed.

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