Mindfulness, inductive reasoning, and awareness of age-related changes: A daily diary study

Abstract

Mindfulness, understood as present-centered thinking, has positive effects on cognition. Cognitive abilities fluctuate on a daily basis in older adulthood. Awareness of age-related change (AARC) focuses on an individual's perception of life changes as a result of growing older and includes dimensions of both gains and losses. AARC losses are negative age-related changes that are attributed to growing older, and have been linked to fluctuations in cognition. Utilizing Holas and Jankowski's cognitive model of mindfulness as a framework, we investigated the potential mediation effect of AARC losses as a type of perceived change in internal experiences. We used multilevel models to analyze daily diary data from 116 older adults (aged 60–90, M = 64.71, SD = 4.98). Participants provided baseline information on Day 1 and then completed parallel versions of inductive reasoning tests each day along with reports of daily mindfulness and AARC on Days 2–9. In line with the cognitive model of mindfulness, within-person increases in daily mindfulness were associated with increases in inductive reasoning performance. Our results also extend the cognitive model of mindfulness because we found through multilevel mediation that increases in mindfulness were associated with decreases in AARC losses, which were then associated with increases in inductive reasoning performance. AARC losses significantly mediated the within-person relationship between mindfulness and cognition. Efforts aimed at reducing perceived AARC losses might assist older adults in taking full advantage of the positive benefits of mindfulness on their daily cognitive abilities.