Mindfulness and emotion regulation

• Self-reported mindfulness is associated with enhanced emotional recovery.
• Mindfulness manipulations lead to reduced negative emotional responses.
• Mindfulness manipulations lead to enhanced positive emotional responses.
• Mindfulness manipulations may reduce behavioral avoidance.
• Mindfulness-based treatments lead to decreases in emotion regulation difficulties.

One proposed pathway for the documented psychological effects of mindfulness (cultivating awareness and acceptance of the present moment) has been through its facilitation of adaptive emotion regulation (ER). Although conceptual overlap between the two constructs complicates interpretation of correlational findings, an emerging body of laboratory, experimental, and treatment outcome studies provides preliminary support of proposed conceptual models. These findings indicate that the practice of mindfulness is associated with healthy ER (e.g., reduced intensity of distress, enhanced emotional recovery, reduced negative self-referential processing, and/or enhanced ability to engage in goal-directed behaviors) and may play a causal role in these effects. More experimental and longitudinal research is needed to determine the exact nature, temporal unfolding, and causality of these associations.