Skip to main content
Log in

Mindfulness as a Mediator Between the Relational Style with Voices and Negative Affect

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Mindfulness Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent studies have established associations between relating to voices and distress. However, the potential influence of mindfulness on this relationship has received little attention. This study was designed to explore the extent to which associations between relating to voices and distress are mediated by mindfulness. A cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the associations between these variables. A sample of 62 patients with psychotic disorder were given the Voices and You Scale (VAY) to measure the relational style with the voices, the Mindfulness and Awareness Scale (MAAS) to measure the capability of mindfulness, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) to measure anxiety and depression, respectively. The results showed a negative association between a dysfunctional style of relating to the voices and mindfulness. It was also found from simple mediation analysis that the mindfulness variable negatively mediated the dysfunctional relational style with voices and distress. Mindfulness is a variable that can mediate the effect of relating style upon voices and distress and should be a target of therapeutic intervention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aleman, A., & Larøi, F. (2008). Hallucinations: the science of idiosyncratic perception. Washington: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1993). Beck Anxiety Inventory manual. San Antonio: Harcourt Brace and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birtchnell, J. (2002). Relating in psychotherapy: the application of a new theory. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K., & Ryan, R. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 84, 822–848.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chadwick, P. D. J., Barnbrook, E., & Newman-Taylor, K. (2007). Responding mindfully to distressing voices: links with meaning, affect and relationship with voice. Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association, 44, 581–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chadwick, P., Strauss, C., Jones, A.M., Kingdon, D., Ellet, L., Dannahy, L., et al. (2016). Group mindfulness-based intervention for distressing voices: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Schizophrenia Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2016.04.001.

  • Escudero-Pérez, S., León-Palacios, M. G., Úbeda-Gómez, J., Barros-Albarrán, M. D., López-Jiménez, A. M., & Perona-Garcelán, S. (2016). Dissociation and mindfulness in patients with auditory verbal hallucinations. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 17(3), 294–306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, M., Denney, J., Vaughan, S., & Fowler, D. (2008). The voice and you: development and psychometric evaluation of a measure of relationships with voices. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 15, 45–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, M., Overton, J., Dorey, T., & Denney, J. (2009). Relating therapy for people who hear voices: a case series. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 16, 216–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, M., Berry, K., & Ashton, A. (2011). Applying interpersonal theories to the understanding of and therapy for auditory hallucinations: a review of the literature and directions for further research. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 1313–1323.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, M., Berry, K., McCarthy-Jones, S., Strauss, C., & Thomas, N. (2013). Beyond the omnipotence of voices: further developing a relational approach to auditory hallucinations. Psychosis, 6, 242–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kay, S. R., Opler, L. A., & Lindenmayer, J. P. (1988). Reliability and validity of the positive and negative syndrome scale for schizophrenics. Psychiatry Research, 23, 99–110.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leff, J., Williams, G., Huckvale, M., Arbuthnot, M., & Leff, A. P. (2014). Avatar therapy for persecutory auditory hallucinations: what is it and how does it work? Psychosis, 6(2), 166–176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • León-Palacios, M. G., Úbeda-Gómez, J., Escudero-Pérez, S., Barros-Albarán, M. D., López-Jiménez, A. M., & Perona-Garcelán, S. (2015). Auditory verbal hallucinations: can beliefs about voices mediate the relationship patients establish with them and negative affect? Spanish Journal of Psychology, 18(e76), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, E. M., Garety, P., & Peters, E. (2014). Psychological flexibility and nonjudgemental acceptance in voice hearers: relationships with omnipotence and distress. Australian New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48, 1150–1162.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perona-Garcelán, S., Cuevas-Yust, C., García-Montes, J. M., Pérez-Álvarez, M., Ductor-Recuerda, M. J., Salas-Azcona, R., et al. (2008). Relationship between self-focussed attention and dissociation in patients with and without auditory hallucinations. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196, 190–197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perona-Garcelán, S., García-Montes, J. M., Ductor-Recuerda, M. J., Vallina-Fernández, O., Cuevas-Yust, C., Pérez-Álvarez, M., et al. (2012). Relationship of metacognition, absorption and depersonalization in patients with auditory hallucinations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 100–118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perona-Garcelán, S., Carrascoso-López, F., García-Montes, J. M., Ductor-Recuerda, M. J., López-Jiménez, A. M., Vallina-Fernández, O., et al. (2014a). Relationship between childhood trauma, mindfulness, and dissociation in subjects with and without hallucination proneness. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 15, 35–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perona-Garcelán, S., García-Montes, J. M., López-Jiménez, A. M., Rodríguez-Testal, J. F., Ruiz-Veguilla, M., Ductor-Recuerda, M. J., et al. (2014b). Relationship between self-focused attention and mindfulness in people with and without hallucination proneness. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 17(e20), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perona-Garcelán, S., Úbeda-Gómez, J., León-Palacios, M. G., Barros-Albarrán, M. D., Escudero-Pérez, S., López-Jiménez, A. M., et al. (2016a). An exploration of the reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the “Voice and You” (VAY): a scale for measuring the relationship with voices. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 23, 183–188.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perona-Garcelán, S., Úbeda-Gómez, J., León-Palacios, M. G., Escudero-Pérez, S., Barros-Albarrán, M. D., López-Jiménez, A. M., et al. (2016b). Relationship between public and private self-focused attention and auditory verbal hallucinations as an interpersonal process. Psychosis, 8(2), 118–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. (2008). A symptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz, J., & Navarro, M. E. (2003). Psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) in university students. Ansiedad y Estrés, 9, 59–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanz, J., Perdigón, A. L., & Vázquez, C. (2003). The Spanish adaptation of Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II): 2. Psychometric properties in the general population. Clínica y Salud, 14, 249–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soler, J., Tejedor, R., Feliu-Soler, A., Pascual, J. C., Cebolla, A., Soriano, J., et al. (2012). Psychometric proprieties of Spanish version of Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Actas Española de Psiquiatría, 40, 19–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrell, E., Hayward, M., & Meddings, S. (2010). Interpersonal processes and auditory hallucinations: a study of the association between relating to voices and distress in clinical and non-clinical hearers. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 38, 127–140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, C., Thomas, N., & Hayward, M. (2015). Can we respond mindfully to distressing voices? A systematic review of evidence for engagement, acceptability, effectiveness and mechanisms of change for mindfulness-based interventions for people distressed by hearing voices. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1154.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tellegen, A., & Atkinson, G. (1974). Openness to absorbing and self-altering experiences (“absorption”), a trait related to hypnotic susceptibility. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 83(3), 268–277.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Úbeda-Gómez, J., León-Palacios, M. G., Escudero-Pérez, S., Barros-Albarrán, M. D., López-Jiménez, A. M., & Perona-Garcelán, S. (2015). Relationship between self-focused attention, mindfulness and distress in individuals with auditory verbal hallucinations. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 20, 482–488.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, S., & Fowler, D. (2004). The distress experienced by voice hearers is associated with the perceived relationship between the voice hearer and the voice. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 143–153.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waters, F., Allen, P., Aleman, A., Fernyhough, C., Woodward, T. S., Badcok, J. C., & Larøi, F. (2012). Auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia and nonschizophrenia populations: a review and integrated model of cognitive mechanisms. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 38(4), 683–693.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1992). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Salvador Perona-Garcelán.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Perona-Garcelán, S., Rodríguez-Testal, J.F., Senín-Calderón, C. et al. Mindfulness as a Mediator Between the Relational Style with Voices and Negative Affect. Mindfulness 8, 454–459 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0617-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0617-6

Keywords

Navigation