STRESS

Original Articles

Mediating Effect of Acceptance and Moderated Mediation by Emotional Reactivity in the Relationship Between Awareness and Anxiety: Chang Soo Han, Boyoung Kim; STRESS. 2025;33(2):103-110. Published online June 30, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.17547/kjsr.2025.33.2.103

Abstract PDF: Background
This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of acceptance and the moderated mediation effect of emotional reactivity in the relationship between awareness and state anxiety.
Methods
A total of 395 Korean adults participated in this study. Participants completed self-report measures of awareness, state anxiety, acceptance, and emotional reactivity. Data were analyzed using PROCESS macro to test for mediation and moderated mediation effects.
Results
The findings indicated that acceptance significantly mediated the relationship between awareness and state anxiety. Moreover, emotional reactivity significantly moderated the association between awareness and acceptance. A significant moderated mediation effect was also observed, suggesting that the indirect effect of awareness on state anxiety through acceptance differed depending on levels of emotional reactivity.
Conclusions
These results elucidate the mechanisms underlying mindfulness, indicating that its anxiety-reducing effects via acceptance depend on individual differences in emotional reactivity. The study offers suggestions for the clinical application of mindfulness-based interventions, emphasizing the importance of tailoring strategies to clients’ emotional sensitivity.

The Relation between Social Anxiety, Self-Focused Attention and State Anxiety: The Moderated Mediation Effect of the Self-image on a Screen: TaeHo Um, Mirihae Kim, Jung-Ho Kim; STRESS. 2022;30(4):234-243. Published online December 30, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.17547/kjsr.2022.30.4.234

Abstract PDF: Background
This study examined how seeing one’s own image during video communication affects the cognitive process of social anxiety.
Methods
Fifty-two university students were recruited and assessed for social anxiety and dispositional self-focused attention. They were randomly assigned to different exposure and size settings of self-images on a screen (none, middle, big). Subsequently, a simulated video interview was conducted. During the experiment, changes in state anxiety (subjective anxiety, heart rate) and state self-focused attention were assessed.
Results
First, self-focused attention mediated the effect of social anxiety on subjective anxiety. Second, the mediation effect of state self-focused attention on social anxiety’s influence on subjective anxiety was not moderated by the exposure and size of the self-image on the screen. Third, the mediation effect of dispositional self-focused attention on social anxiety’s influence on subjective anxiety was moderated by the exposure and size of the self-image on the screen. The moderated mediation effects of the exposure and size of the self-image on the screen were significant for middle and big sizes.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that dispositional self-focused attention—a cognitive characteristic of social anxiety—can interact with the exposure and size of a self-image on a screen, causing higher anxiety.

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