(PS11-C72) Experiential Avoidance Prospectively Predicted Heightened Traumatic Stress and Somatization Symptoms: The Moderating Effects of Mindfulness

The COVID-19 pandemic was shown to be a traumatic event that negatively impacted the majority of the world. Experiential Avoidance (EA) is posited to be a risk factor of heightened psychological symptomology while mindfulness is suggested to be a protective factor against distress. The present study examined if experiential avoidance among individuals in the USA during the early weeks (April 2020) of the implementation of COVID-19 measures (social distancing, masking, quarantining, etc.) predicted traumatic stress and somatization symptoms two months later as well as the moderating effect of mindfulness at time 1. Moderated multiple regressions were conducted using SPSS 28. Relevant covariates including gender, current illnesses, and race were entered into the models. The results showed that EA was positively correlated with T2 traumatic stress (β= .54, p < .001), mindfulness was not a significant provider but the interaction term of EAxMindfulness supported the moderator role of mindfulness (β= -.18, p < .001). The overall model explained 60% of the variance in T2 traumatic stress [R² = .60, F (6, 141 = 35.90, p < .001]. Similarly, EA was positively correlated with T2 somatization symptoms (β= .37, p=.05). However, mindfulness and the interaction term with EA were not significant predictors. The overall model was statistically significant and explained 37% of the variance in T2 somatization symptoms [R² = .37, F (6, 141 = 13.69, p < .001]. None of the demographic covariates were significant predictors across the models. The results provided insight into the relations between EA and psychological symptomology as well as the potential buffering role of mindfulness.