Relationships between intolerance of uncertainty and depression in Chinese high-altitude migrants: the mediating effect of mindfulness

The partial analysis showed that the PHQ-9 was positively correlated with both the prospective IU (r=0.315, P0.05) and inhibitory IU (r=0.404, P<0.05), which were the two dimensions of IUS-12. The MAAS score was negatively correlated with prospective IU (r=-0.196, P<0.05), inhibitory IU (r=-0.385, P<0.05) and PHQ-9 (r=-0.488, P<0.05). Both the prospective IU (β=0.137, 95% CI: 0.079 0.204) and inhibitory IU (β=0.169, 95% CI: 0.097 0.257) could directly affect depressive symptoms. The indirect effect of inhibitory IU on depressive symptoms via mindfulness was found to be significant (β=0.101, 95% CI: 0.068 0.137), accounting for 48.30% of the total effect. On the contrary, the indirect effect of prospective IU on depressive symptoms was found not significant. CONCLUSIONS: IU was positively associated with depressive symptoms scores. And it was the inhibitory IU but not the prospective IU directly mediated by mindfulness in depressive symptoms development of migrants enrolled in the study at high-altitude regions of China.