Abstract:

Adolescence is a crucial stage of emotional and neurocognitive development, where challenges in emotion regulation may render individuals susceptible to anxiety, depression, and various mental health issues. In recent years, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have garnered empirical attention as non-invasive, cost-effective strategies to improve emotion regulation and foster psychological resilience in youth. This systematic review sought to consolidate indexed evidence regarding the effectiveness of MBIs in enhancing emotional regulation in adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. In accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, an extensive literature search was performed across the PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases for peer-reviewed studies published from 2010 to 2025. Qualifying studies encompassed randomized controlled or quasi-experimental designs assessing mindfulness programs, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and school-based mindfulness curricula, with emotion regulation or associated psychological outcomes (e.g., stress, anxiety, affect) as principal endpoints. In 32 studies with about 4,800 participants, the results consistently showed that improvements in emotion regulation, mindfulness, and stress reduction had small to moderate effect sizes. Neurocognitive evidence demonstrated that mindfulness improves prefrontal control and amygdala modulation, which are mechanisms that lead to lower emotional reactivity. Qualitative insights corroborated enhancements in emotional awareness, self-compassion, and empathy. Despite variations in study design and a scarcity of longitudinal data, Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) exhibited strong feasibility and acceptability in both clinical and educational contexts. These results highlight the preventive capacity of MBIs as scalable interventions for adolescent mental health. Future research should focus on standardized protocols, larger multi-site randomized trials, the incorporation of digital delivery methods, and the inclusion of neurobiological biomarkers to enhance the evidence base and guide policy integration within educational and public health frameworks.