The conditional process model of mindfulness and emotion regulation: An empirical test

•The CPM specifies mechanisms and contextual factors linking mindfulness and emotion regulation to psychopathology.•Cognitive emotion regulation strategies functioned as mediators.•Nonreactivity moderated the indirect effect involving reappraisal.•The CPM accounts for symptoms across a variety of emotional disorders.

BackgroundThe conditional process model (CPM) of mindfulness and emotion regulation posits that specific mediators and moderators link these constructs to mental health outcomes. The current study empirically examined the central tenets of the CPM, which posit that nonreactivity moderates the indirect effect of observation on symptoms of emotional disorders through cognitive emotion regulation strategies.MethodsA clinical sample (n=1667) of individuals from Japan completed a battery of self-report instruments. Several path analyses were conducted to determine whether cognitive emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationship between observation and symptoms of individual emotional disorders, and to determine whether nonreactivity moderated these indirect effects.ResultsResults provided support the CPM. Specifically, nonreactivity moderated the indirect effect of observation on symptoms through reappraisal, but it did not moderate the indirect effect of observation on symptoms through suppression.LimitationsCausal interpretations are limited, and cultural considerations must be acknowledged given the Japanese sampleConclusionsThese results underscore the potential importance of nonreactivity and emotion regulation as targets for interventions.