Neural Underpinnings of the Role of Trait Mindfulness in Emotion Regulation in Adolescents

Mindfulness improves psychological and mental health by reducing negative emotional experiences and facilitating attentional processes and cognitive control during emotion regulation. However, little neurological evidence links mindfulness and emotion regulation in adolescence, which is often described as an emotionally turbulent period. Forty-three adolescents (Mage = 12.02, SD = 0.63) were recruited to examine the relationship between trait mindfulness of negative emotion regulation and event-related potentials (ERPs) in the brain. (1) The amplitudes of P2, N2, late positive potential (LPP) 600–1000 ms, and LPP 1000–1500 ms recorded during the negative no regulation condition negatively correlated with observing. (2) The amplitude of LPP 600–1000 ms recorded during the negative downregulation condition also negatively correlated with observing. (3) The amplitudes of N2 and LPP 600–1000 ms recorded during the negative no regulation condition positively correlated with nonjudging. The results provide neurological evidence that trait mindfulness influences the regulation of negative emotions and affects how negative emotions are processed. Different facets of trait mindfulness have different impacts on adolescents during emotion regulation.