Trait Mindfulness and Adolescent Depression: Emotional Awareness and Emotion Regulation as Mediators

In adults, trait mindfulness has been linked to lower rates of depression. However, there is little evidence for this relationship in adolescents. The goal of this study was to examine whether trait mindfulness was related to adolescent depression and what the underlying mechanisms of this relation might be, specifically looking at emotional awareness and emotion regulation. Mindfulness, depression, emotional awareness, and emotion regulation measures were completed by adolescent males. The results showed a robust, negative relationship between trait mindfulness and adolescent depression that was not explained by emotion regulation or emotional awareness. Trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and depression. These results suggest that trait mindfulness could be important in preventing depression in adolescent males. Future research should focus more fully on measuring trait mindfulness and its relations with other constructs, as well as reproducing this study with multiple time points and females