Does Psychological Capital Mediate Mindfulness in Rural Family Practice Physicians

In order to address the deficiency of research regarding psychological capital and mindfulness toward burnout and depression in rural family physicians, a quantitative correlational study was conducted for the purpose of observing if, or to what extent, psychological capital mediates the effect of mindfulness toward burnout and depression in a random sample of 261 rural family physicians in the United States. The Psychological Capital Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey, the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, and the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were used to collect data from rural physician participants and Hayes' PROCESS for mediation analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The mediation analyses revealed the existence of strong negative relationships between the mediator, mindfulness, and two of the three subconstructs of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) and depression, in the presence of the mediator, psychological capital (EE, R2 = 0.35, p < 0.000; Dp, R2 = 0.28, p < 0.000; depression, R2 = 0.44, p < 0.000). The mediation analyses also revealed the existence of a strong positive relationship between mindfulness and an element of burnout, personal accomplishment, in the presence of psychological capital ( R2 = 0.32, p < 0.000). Given the large amount of variance in the elements of burnout and depression, it appears that psychological capital mediates the effect of mindfulness toward burnout and depression.