Profile of trait mindfulness and its association with emotional regulation for early adolescents

The current study identified profiles of trait mindfulness in a sample of 514 early Chinese adolescents (mean age = 10.54 years), and examined their associations with emotion regulation. Latent profile model was built on five facets of mindfulness (observing, non-judging, acting with awareness, describing, and non-reactivity). Results showed negative correlations of the five facets among the four identified profiles: Judging &High Mindfulness (Profile 1, 43.1%), Non-reacting Observing (Profile 2, 6.7%), Non-judging &Low Mindfulness (Profile 3, 20.4%), and Non-judgmental Awareness (Profile 4, 29.7%). Judging &High Mindfulness and Non-reacting Observing profile used significantly more reappraisal than the other profiles. Besides, Non-reacting Observing applied significantly more behavioral suppression than the other profiles. The result indicated diverse patterns of trait mindfulness among the early adolescents, and the associations of trait mindfulness with emotion regulation should be considered comprehensively with all facets, rather than separately.