Naturally mindful? The role of mindfulness facets in the relationship between nature relatedness and subjective well-being

Nature relatedness refers to the cognitive-affective relationship with natural environments. Mindfulness is described as non-judgmental attention to the present moment and is a multi-dimensional construct consisting of interacting facets. This study aimed to clarify the mechanisms through which nature relatedness and mindfulness contribute to subjective well-being. Participants were 250 university students (Mage = 20.67, SD = 1.99, 82.4% female) who completed measures of nature relatedness, the five facets of mindfulness, positive and negative affect and life satisfaction. Mediation analyses revealed that of the five facets of mindfulness, only Non-Reactivity and Observing partially mediated the positive relationship between nature relatedness and positive affect, and fully mediated the positive relationship between nature relatedness and life satisfaction. Only Non-Reactivity was found to fully mediate the negative relationship between nature relatedness and negative affect. Findings suggest that when creating nature-based mindfulness interventions, it may be clinically useful develop skills that target mindfulness through Non-Reactivity and Observing.