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Socioeconomic status is inversely associated with a wide array of negative outcomes, including poorer physical and mental health, and positively associated with outcomes such as life satisfaction and psychological well-being. One SES factor, income, is related to increased risk for depression. Although these relationships are established, few studies have explored potential buffers. This study investigated the role of mindful nonjudging and resilience as moderators of the relationship between income and depression among a sample of older adults (N = 64). This study is a secondary cross-sectional analysis of a larger randomized-controlled trial of mindfulness training. Baseline self-report measures of mindful nonjudging, psychological resilience, depression, and income were analyzed in two moderation models for the present study. We found that both mindful nonjudging (p = .008) and resilience (p = .012) significantly moderated the relationship between income and depression, such that individuals with high mindfulness and resilience showed a significant relationship. For these individuals, as income increased depression decreased, whereas for individuals with average and low levels of mindfulness and resilience, depression remained elevated regardless of income. This study found evidence for mindful nonjudging and resilience as protective factors against depression once a certain threshold of income is met.
Socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with a litany of outcomes, including physical (Kivimäki et al., 2020; Wang & Geng, 2019) and mental health (Kim & Cho, 2020; Kivimäki et al., 2020), psychological well-being (Sugiura & Sugiura, 2018a), life satisfaction (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002), stress (Algren et al., 2018; Graves & Nowakowski, 2017), and depression (Lorant et al., 2003). Income, a specific aspect of SES, is inversely related to depression and studies have found that higher-income individuals are at lower risk for depression than lower-income individuals (Domènech-Abella et al., 2018; Lorant et al., 2003; Sareen et al., 2011). Although little is known about dispositional factors that may buffer the relationship between income and depression, mindfulness shows promise.
Mindfulness is defined as receptive and present moment awareness (Brown & Ryan, 2003), and a large body of literature has associated mindfulness with improved well-being and decreased psychological distress (Bergomi et al., 2013; Brown et al., 2007) and depression (Hofmann & Gómez, 2017). Research has also found that mindfulness is positively correlated with income. Jensen, Krogh, Westphael, & Hjordt...