The Association between Mindfulness, Psychological Flexibility, and Rumination in Predicting Mental Health and Well-Being among University Students Using Machine Learning and Structural Equation Modeling

citation: “Feng, R., Mishra, V., Hao, X., & Verhaeghen, P. (2025). The association between mindfulness, psychological flexibility, and rumination in predicting mental health and well-being among university students using machine learning and structural equation modeling. Machine Learning with Applications, 19, 100614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mlwa.2024.100614”

This study applied random forest regression, deep neural networks, and structural equation modeling to examine how mindfulness, psychological flexibility, and rumination contribute to mental health and well-being among 524 college students.
Machine learning identified self-transcendence and psychological flexibility as key predictors.
The SEM further confirmed that flexibility and rumination serially mediated the link between mindfulness and well-being, emphasizing the importance of adaptive self-regulation and reduced cognitive fixation for mental health.