Mindfulness and posttraumatic response patterns among adolescents following the tornado

•Three kinds of posttraumatic response patterns in tornado adolescent survivors.•Trait mindfulness could identify posttraumatic response patterns.•Different dimensions of mindfulness predict different patterns of PTSD and PTG. As the most destructive natural disasters, tornado has a baneful influence on adolescents’ mental health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of trait mindfulness on patterns of posttraumatic response among adolescent survivors following the Yancheng tornado in China. Eighteen months after the tornado happened, 803 adolescent survivors were followed using a questionnaire package, including Child PTSD Symptom Scale, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify patterns of posttraumatic responses. Based on the fitting indicators of latent profile analysis, the three-class patterns model of posttraumatic response was the optimal model. The three-class solution was characterized by Growth group (43.96%), Resisting group (27.02%), and Struggling group (29.02%) fitted the data best. Trait mindfulness was an effective indicator of the three-class patterns. In addition, each aspect of trait mindfulness affected the model differently. Observation, nonreactivity and nonjudgment predicted the Resisting group while acting with awareness predicted the Growth group. There were three kinds of posttraumatic response patterns (Growth group, Resisting group, and Struggling group) which could be identified by trait mindfulness. The effects of different facets of trait mindfulness on posttraumatic response patterns were inconsistent in adolescents.