Longitudinal and Dynamic Associations of Engagement in Mindfulness Training with Emotion Regulation Difficulties, Mindfulness, and Self-Compassion in Community Adolescents.

Despite enthusiasm for mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for preventing adolescent mental health problems, effects tend to be small. One potential explanation is that some adolescents are not engaging with MBI in ways that maximize benefits. In this study, we sought to understand the time-ordered and interconnected changes in engagement and target intervention processes of emotion regulation difficulties, mindfulness, and self-compassion. In a single-arm trial, n = 73 community adolescents participating in a 6-week, group MBI completed self-report measures of engagement, emotion regulation difficulties, mindfulness, and self-compassion at each weekly session. Caregivers reported weekly on their child's emotion regulation difficulties. Using structural equation models, we tested longitudinal and time-ordered change associations for engagement and target processes, at both the between- and within-person levels. Between-person, increases in engagement were associated with decreases in adolescent-reported emotion regulation difficulties and increases in self-compassion. Within-person, higher levels of engagement at any given session, relative to one's own average, were associated with decreased adolescent-reported emotion regulation difficulties and increased self-compassion at the subsequent session. Findings provide initial evidence that engagement is an important underlying process in adolescent MBI. Person-centered, adaptive approaches to optimizing engagement in adolescent MBI warrant investigation to assess their potential to enhance MBI effects on health outcomes.