Mindfulness and experiential avoidance as predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder avoidance symptom severity

Mindfulness reflects an awareness of present moment experiences through an attitude of acceptance and openness (Bishop et al., 2004; Cardaciotto, Herbert, Forman, Moitra, & Farrow, 2008). Experiential avoidance, by contrast, refers to attempts to change, alter, or avoid private experiences (e.g., thoughts, feelings, sensations), and it is believed to underlie a number of psychopathologies, including PTSD (Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996). We were interested in the ability of mindfulness to predict the variance of PTSD avoidance symptom severity above and beyond experiential avoidance. 378 introductory psychology students were administered self-report measures of PTSD, mindfulness, experiential avoidance, thought suppression, alexithymia, and avoidant coping. Mindfulness, specifically nonjudgment of experiences, accounted for a unique portion of the variance in PTSD avoidance symptoms.