Exploring the links between mindfulness skills, physical activity, signs of anxiety, and signs of depression among non-clinical participants [Exploration des liens entre les capacités de pleine conscience, l'activité physique, les signes d'anxiété et les signes de dépression auprès d'individus sains]

Introduction Physical activity has been shown to reduce anxiety and/or depression levels in patients with chronic physical diseases as well as healthy individuals. Similarly, mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions have also been shown to reduce levels of anxiety and depression. Furthermore, recent research suggests that mindfulness is also associated with the level of physical activity. The aim of this correlational study was to predict signs of anxiety and depression with acceptance, dispositional mindfulness, and levels of physical activity in non-clinical individuals. Methods One hundred randomly chosen participants were interviewed with regard to their general anxiety (BAI), depression (BDI-II), physical activity (IPAQ), acceptance (AAQ-II), and dispositional mindfulness (MAAS). Results On average, participants scored underneath the pathological threshold for anxiety and depression inventories. As expected, dispositional mindfulness and acceptance variables were negatively correlated to the psychopathological variables. Hierarchical model analyses showed that acceptance, dispositional mindfulness, and physical activity level explain 21% of the data for depression level among non-clinical participants. Conclusion This exploratory study may lead other researchers to develop and test the validity of mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions associated to physical activity programs in order to reduce depression level among healthy individuals. © 2016 Association Française de Therapie Comportementale et Cognitive