The Bridge of Hope: Mediating the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Loneliness

ABSTRACT

This cross‐sectional study sought to explore hope as a mediator between mindfulness and loneliness and social connectedness by using a structural equation modeling data analysis approach to analyze the relationships. Among a sample of 676 interpersonal trauma experiencers recruited online from a crowdsourcing platform, hope fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and social connectedness. These results expand understanding of the psychological underpinnings of loneliness and social connectedness, and provide implications for mental health practitioners to intentionally cultivate hopeful cognition through therapeutic and contemplative practices as a way to treat loneliness in interpersonal trauma experiencers. With loneliness on the rise, mental health professionals should consider hope‐ and mindfulness‐based interventions as potentially transformative.