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The link between mindfulness and psychological well-being among university students: The mediating role of social connectedness and self-esteem

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Abstract

Mindfulness has been considered as a positive psychological trait that contributes to psychological well-being. This study investigated the mediating role of social connectedness and self-esteem in the link between mindfulness and psychological well-being. In this study, a sample of eight hundred and fifty-one students from three Chinese universities were selected to participate in the study. Participants filled in the questionnaires for mindfulness, social connectedness, self-esteem, and psychological well-being. Findings of the path analysis indicated social connectedness and self-esteem performed as a mediating role in the link between mindfulness and psychological well-being. In addition, the bootstrapping procedure demonstrated that the indirect effects of mindfulness on psychological well-being through social connectedness and self-esteem were significant. The study provides valuable implications to apply psychological interventions to improve students’ psychological well-being.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (18ZDA333) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (GK202103131). We thank all participants for their participation in this study and Ning Jia for English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, 199 South Chang’an Road, Xi’an, 710062, China

    Abaid Ur Rehman, Xuqun You, Ziyu Wang & Feng Kong

  2. Department of Psychology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub Campus, Layyah, Pakistan

    Abaid Ur Rehman

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  1. Abaid Ur Rehman
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  2. Xuqun You
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  4. Feng Kong
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Correspondence to Feng Kong.

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Rehman, A.U., You, X., Wang, Z. et al. The link between mindfulness and psychological well-being among university students: The mediating role of social connectedness and self-esteem. Curr Psychol 42, 11772–11781 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02428-6

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