I feel, therefore i am : an investigation on mindfulness, body awareness, and emotion regulation in youth
(2024)
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- Abstract
- Adolescence and emerging adulthood are times of psychological vulnerability. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may help prevent and alleviate the mental health burden in this vulnerable population. However, there is inconclusive evidence on the impact and mechanisms of change of MBIs in youth. Therefore, the general purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the impact of an MBI on two developmentally important and interconnected resilience factors, body awareness and emotion regulation. We hypothesized that an MBI would lead to improvements in body awareness which would in turn improve emotion regulation skills, and the two mechanisms in tandem would explain the reduction in emotional distress observed after an MBI. The research involved three general steps: (1) a proof-of-concept study in adults with emotional disorders, (2) the development and validation of measures of body awareness and emotion regulation for youth, and (3) a clinical trial assessing the impact of an MBI in adolescents in a school setting. Results supported our hypothesis in adults but not in adolescents in a school setting. Clinical, developmental, and measurement implications are discussed.
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Perez Pena, M. (2024). I feel, therefore i am : an investigation on mindfulness, body awareness, and emotion regulation in youth. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/31351