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Eating patterns are important predictors of obesity, as well as overall health and well-being. Food cravings are related to food consumption and obesity, and recent research has investigated the effect of cognitive reappraisal (CR) on food cravings. However, while recent studies have investigated the effects of cognitive reappraisal on the down-regulation of cravings for unhealthy foods, few studies have explored the effects of cognitive reappraisal on cravings for healthy foods. Considering that neuroimaging findings suggest that CR relies on recruiting top-down controlled processes to down-regulate bottom-up automatic responses (Cutuli, 2014; Kober et al., 2010; Ochsner & Gross, 2014), the effectiveness of CR may be largely dependent on several processes of executive functions, such as working memory capacity (WMC). However, the role of WMC in the cognitive regulation of craving has seldom been investigated. Furthermore, early event-related potentials (ERPs) such as N1 (100-200ms) and early posterior negativity (EPN; 200-300ms) the at occipital lobes are thought to reflect early selective attention. Therefore, it is plausible that N1 and EPN amplitudes can differentiate between LC and salient HC food cues, however most research on processing of food pictures has typically focused on late ERPs. With regards to late-ERPs, the late positive potential (LPP) at centro-parietal brain sites has been proposed to reflect motivated attention towards evolutionarily relevant stimuli (Schupp et al., 2000). However, given conflicting findings from previous studies (Meule, Kübler, & Blechert, 2013; Sarlo, Übel, Leutgeb, & Schienle, 2013; Svaldi et al., 2015), further research is needed to examine whether changes in LPP amplitude can be used as objective markers of successful cognitive regulation of cravings. The present study aims to investigate the effects of cognitive reappraisal (CR) on food cravings and consumption of both high-calorie (HC; unhealthy) and low-calorie (LC; healthy) food items, as well as to investigate the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying the cognitive regulation of food craving.

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions have caused increases in levels of depression, anxiety and psychological distress (Rodríguez-rey et al., 2020; Vindegaard & Benros, 2020; Wang et al., 2019, 2020), it is promising to investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between mindfulness and mental health of the general population during this crisis. This study aims to examine the relationship between mindfulness and mental health outcomes, namely depression, anxiety and psychological distress, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study will investigate whether the relationships between mindfulness trait and levels of depression, anxiety and psychological distress are mediated by the use of emotional regulation strategies (i.e. cognitive reappraisal, rumination and suppression) and sleep problems, as well as explore whether the effects of mindfulness on sleep is mediated by rumination.

ObjectivesResearch has linked mindfulness to improved mental health, yet the mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood. This study explored the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies and sleep in the relationship between mindfulness and symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsAs detailed in this study’s pre-registration (osf.io/k9qtw), a cross-sectional research design was used to investigate the impact of mindfulness on mental health and the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, rumination and suppression) and insomnia. A total of 493 participants from the general population answered an online survey and were included in the final analysis. The online survey consisted of the short form of the Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-SF), the Impact of Event Scale-revised (IES-R), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the short form of the Rumination Response Scale (RSS-SF), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI).ResultsStructural equation modelling revealed that mindfulness was related to lower symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress, both directly and indirectly. Mindfulness was negatively associated with rumination and insomnia. As hypothesised, models revealed that the associations between mindfulness and depression, anxiety and psychological distress were significantly mediated by its negative associations with rumination and insomnia. Our findings also demonstrated that rumination was related to increased insomnia symptoms, which in turn was associated with increased mental health problems, indicating a mediated mediation. Mindfulness was also positively associated with cognitive reappraisal and negatively associated with suppression, which were, respectively, negatively and positively associated with depressive symptoms, and thus functioned as specific mediators of the association between mindfulness and depression.ConclusionOur findings suggest that rumination and insomnia operate transdiagnostically as interrelated mediators of the effects of mindfulness on mental health, whereas cognitive reappraisal and suppression function as specific mediators for depression. These insights emphasise the importance of targeting emotion regulation and sleep in mindfulness interventions for improving mental health. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed.

Additional file 2.

Additional file 1.

Supplemental material, JSW911350 Supplemental Material for Social workers and recovery from stress by Arjan van Dam, Gera Noordzij and Marise Born in Journal of Social Work