A Preliminary Investigation of the Relationships Between Dispositional Mindfulness and Impulsivity

Two studies examined the correlational relationships between self-reported mindfulness and impulsivity in samples of 347 and 227 university students. Using multidimensional measures of both mindfulness and impulsivity, results from both studies indicate that several aspects of mindfulness are negatively correlated with elements of impulsivity, even after controlling for trait-level negative affect in Study 1 and current general distress in Study 2. However, the relationships between different facets of mindfulness and types of impulsivity varied in strength and significance level. These results suggest that mindfulness skills may be related to the ability to refrain from maladaptive impulsive behavior in the presence of negative affect or distress and that specific mindfulness skills may be most helpful in addressing different types of impulsive behaviors.