Mindfulness changed emotion-regulation choices in healthy adolescents
An adolescent trial found more use of relaxation but less acceptance and problem solving after mindfulness training. These secondary findings do not establish better mental health.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
After mindfulness training, adolescents used relaxation more often and acceptance and problem solving less often during an emotion task than wait-list controls. The study therefore describes a shift in strategies, rather than a clear improvement across them. It does not establish that these changes reduce symptoms or prevent psychiatric disorders.
These were secondary outcomes examined with post-hoc tests in a small sample. The abstract does not give effect sizes or demonstrate the clinical meaning of the strategy changes.
What researchers found
Emotion-regulation strategy use
Statistically significant differences during an emotion task after the 8-week programme versus wait-list control; effect sizes were not reported.
What the task measured
Researchers examined which strategies adolescents used during a task involving emotional reactions and regulation. This outcome concerns their choice of strategy in that setting, rather than a reported measure of psychiatric symptoms.
Interpreting the direction
Changing which strategy adolescents use is different from showing that they manage distress more successfully. The reported outcomes cannot determine whether less acceptance or problem solving was beneficial, harmful or neutral.
The original publication
Mindfulness shapes emotion regulation in non-clinical adolescents: Secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled trial.
Mendola E, Meuleman B, Magnus Smith M et al.
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 40991425
- Record checked
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