Parker, Beth and Ashton, Amy and Eccles, Fiona (2025) The relationship between mindfulness and wellbeing in first responders : a systematic review. Current Psychology, 44 (3). pp. 1933-1949. ISSN 1046-1310
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Abstract
Objectives: The review aims to explore the relationship between dispositional mindfulness (DM) and wellbeing, including positive psychological wellbeing and poor physical and mental health in first responders, including police, fire and emergency medical personnel. Methods: A systematic review was conducted, with a search of four academic databases (PsycInfo, Medline, CINAHL, EmCare). Following duplicate removal, screening and forward and backward searches, 27 papers reporting findings from 22 quantitative studies were identified. Quality appraisal of the studies was completed, with a subsection of these peer-rated to increase reliability. Data were extracted, then analysed using narrative synthesis. Results: The findings suggest that DM is positively related to wellbeing in first responders, in terms of higher positive psychological wellbeing and fewer mental and physical health symptoms. Greater DM also attenuated the negative effect of mental health symptoms and stress on their wellbeing. The results indicate that DM may benefit first responders’ wellbeing through its influence on using more adaptive coping mechanisms and perceiving oneself as having greater coping resources and fewer stressors. However, the lack of longitudinal research limits conclusions about the direction of causation in these relationships. Conclusions: DM appears to be positively related to wellbeing outcomes in first responders. Further research exploring positive outcomes, the long-term impact of DM on wellbeing, and under-represented first responder populations would add to the current evidence base.