Being mindful boosts well-being for adults with CF, UK study finds
Researchers: ACT mindfulness-based intervention may help ease distress
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Adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who are better at coping with their thoughts and feelings also achieve greater well-being, with mindfulness — especially acting with awareness — partially explaining this link to better mental health, a new U.K. study found.
According to the researchers, the results suggest that interventions such as ACT, or acceptance and commitment therapy, may be helpful for people with CF.
“This research demonstrates the importance of mindfulness in the relationship between psychological flexibility and well-being,” the team wrote.
In line with previous evidence that ACT, a mindfulness-based therapy that helps patients acknowledge their thoughts and feelings, eases distress in adults with CF, these “findings provide promising preliminary evidence to suggest that mindfulness-based interventions may be beneficial,” the researchers wrote.
The study, titled“Exploring associations and indirect effects between mindfulness, psychological flexibility and wellbeing in adults with cystic fibrosis: Informing future interventions,” was published in the journal Chronic Illness by a team from Birmingham City University.
Many adults with CF are living longer now due to recent treatment advances, but many still face daily stress from managing a serious, lifelong disease. Because of this, emotional and mental health support is increasingly important. This study looked at how psychological flexibility relates to overall well-being among adults with CF.
Data culled from patient questionnaires
Psychological flexibility means being able to cope with difficult thoughts and feelings without letting them fully control behavior. Flexible people can accept discomfort, adjust to challenges, and still act in ways that support their values. Well-being refers to overall emotional and mental health, including mood, energy, and quality of life.
Mindfulness — the ability to pay attention to the present moment in an open and nonjudging way — can “facilitate psychological flexibility,” the researchers wrote. It includes skills such as recognizing thoughts and feelings, describing experiences clearly, staying aware of one’s actions, and not reacting automatically to inner experiences.
In this study, 114 English-speaking adults living with CF — 58 men and 56 women — completed questionnaires measuring psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and well-being. Each questionnaire took about 20 minutes to complete. The participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 70. The vast majority were white individuals (87.7%) who were currently employed (57%).
Those with better psychological flexibility tended to report higher mindfulness and better well-being. Likewise, patients with higher mindfulness generally reported better well-being. Some specific aspects of mindfulness, such as acting with awareness, describing experiences, and not judging inner thoughts, were significantly linked to better well-being, the data showed.
To better understand how these factors work together, the researchers used mediation analysis. This type of analysis tests whether one factor helps explain how another factor affects an outcome. In this case, the team tested whether mindfulness helps explain how psychological flexibility improves well-being.
The findings showed that mindfulness partly explained this link. Patients who were more open and accepting of their inner experiences tended to be more mindful, and this mindfulness helped support better well-being.
Mindfulness, well-being linked, researchers say
Essentially, it’s a two-way street, the researchers noted.
“Participants who demonstrated better psychological flexibility also had higher levels of mindfulness and well-being, and similarly, those who reported higher levels of mindfulness had better well-being,” the team wrote.
When looking at specific aspects of mindfulness, acting with awareness — paying attention to one’s actions in the moment — partly explained why psychological flexibility was linked to better well-being. Other aspects, such as describing feelings or not judging inner experiences, did not explain this link on their own.
Adults with CF who are more open and accepting toward their internal experiences tend to report higher mindfulness, which in turn contributes to greater well-being, highlighting mindfulness as one pathway through which psychological flexibility fosters well-being.
Overall, this study suggests that therapies focusing on psychological flexibility and mindfulness, such as ACT, may improve well-being in adults with CF by helping them respond more effectively to daily challenges, according to the researchers.
“Adults with CF who are more open and accepting toward their internal experiences tend to report higher mindfulness, which in turn contributes to greater well-being, highlighting mindfulness as one pathway through which psychological flexibility fosters well-being,” the scientists wrote.
