(PS14-71) Exploring the Impact of Meditation Experience on Acceptance- vs. Control-based Meditation Intentions: The Mediating Role of Psychological Flexibility

Evidence supports the utility of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for numerous mental health concerns. Yet, research on how individuals utilize MBIs is lacking. Western media often misrepresents mindfulness as a tool to eliminate negative internal experiences. Not surprisingly, undergraduate meditators tend to use meditation guided by control-based intentions and report poorer psychological outcomes relative to their acceptance-based counterparts. The (mis)use of mindfulness practices to control or avoid negative internal experiences stands in opposition to evidence showing that acceptance is a core therapeutic mechanism in MBIs. Whether intentions guiding meditation varies as a function of experience meditating remains unknown. Because acceptance is part of a broader transdiagnostic construct known as psychological flexibility, one might expect that more experienced meditators would be more likely to develop greater psychological flexibility and, in turn, approach meditation with acceptance-based intentions. To address such issues, the present study investigated meditation intentions (control vs. acceptance-based) in a community sample of meditators to (1) replicate preliminary findings on relations between meditation intention and psychological outcomes and (2) explore relations between meditation experience (total months meditating), psychological flexibility, and meditation intentions. Participants (N=122) completed a cross-sectional online survey consisting of validated psychological measures and items evaluating use of meditation in a control or acceptance-based context. Results show that meditating with acceptance-based intentions negatively covaried with depression (r= -.24*), anxiety (r= -.25*), stress (r= -.34**), and psychological inflexibility (r= -.38**) and positively covaried with satisfaction with life (r= .26**) and psychological flexibility (r= .32**). Meditating with control-based intentions positively covaried with depression (r= .22*), anxiety (r= .31**), stress (r= .29**), and psychological inflexibility (r= .49**) and negatively covaried with psychological flexibility (r= -.25**), *p< .05, **p< .01. Linear regression analyses showed that more meditation experience predicted using meditation with greater acceptance-based intentions (β = 11.24, SE= 4.04, p= .007). Mediational analyses suggest that experience with meditating impacts intentions by way of psychological flexibility. Perhaps as individuals meditate more, those who flexibly contact their present-moment experiences are reinforced to use meditation in an acceptance-based way. Alternative interpretations, clinical implications, and future directions will be discussed.