Dispositional mindfulness predicts attenuated waking salivary cortisol levels in cancer survivors: a latent growth curve analysis.

Purpose: Cancer survivors experience significant stress and diminished well-being long after treatment. Dispositional mindfulness is linked with salutary coping with stress and enhanced well-being, with potentially beneficial effects on stress-related hormones. In the present study, we evaluated dispositional mindfulness as a predictor of changes in waking salivary cortisol levels among a sample of cancer survivors.

Methods: Mindfulness, well-being, and saliva samples were collected at baseline and at 4- and 12-week follow-ups. Latent growth curve analysis was conducted to examine baseline dispositional mindfulness as a predictor of changes in waking salivary cortisol over time, and regression analyses examined associations between well-being and cortisol.

Results: Findings indicated that cancer survivors who reported lower baseline levels of dispositional mindfulness exhibited increases in waking cortisol over time, whereas those who reported higher baseline dispositional mindfulness showed comparatively stable waking cortisol over the study period. Furthermore, increases in waking cortisol were associated with decreased well-being over the study period.

Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that cancer survivors with higher levels of dispositional mindfulness may be buffered from deleterious changes in cortisol secretion.

Implications For Cancer Survivors: Enhanced dispositional mindfulness may promote salutary neuroendocrine function among cancer survivors and thereby improve well-being during the survivorship process.