Relations Among Self-concealment, Mindfulness, and Internalizing Problems

Self-concealment and mindfulness can be viewed as two fairly stable emotion/behavior regulation tendencies, which are often linked to a range of internalizing problems. The current study examined whether low levels of mindfulness and higher levels of self-concealment predict higher levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization for both men and women. An ethnically diverse sample of college undergraduate females (n = 738) and males (n = 249) completed a web-based survey that included the self-report measures of interest. Path analysis models were evaluated separately for male participants and female participants. The findings from these models revealed that low levels of mindfulness predict higher levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization above the effects of self-concealment, age, and ethnicity for both men and women. Low levels of self-concealment predicted higher levels of depression and anxiety above the effects of mindfulness, age, and ethnicity for both men and women, and low levels of self-concealment predicted higher levels of somatization for women. Contrary to predictions, self-concealment did not predict somatization in men above the effects of mindfulness, age, and ethnicity. These findings suggest that mindfulness and self-concealment are distinct predictors useful for understanding the correlates of internalizing problems.