Emotion Regulation Outcomes and Preliminary Feasibility Evidence From a Mindfulness Intervention for Adolescent Substance Use

Abstract

Based on the evidence that emotion regulation difficulties underpin many mental health struggles during adolescence, including substance use disorders (SUDs), we focused on distress tolerance as a particularly salient mechanism of action for bolstering emotion regulation outcomes for adolescents in early SUD recovery. Mindfulness-based interventions are effective in improving distress tolerance through teaching skills to reduce individuals’ perceived stress or feelings of crisis and increasing a sense of agency and self-regulatory efficacy. The aim of the present study was to improve emotion regulation outcomes in the student body of a recovery high school (N = 27) through six weeks of mindfulness intervention content delivered in a small-group format. Thus, we tested feasibility through recruitment and retention rates and examined preliminary efficacy outcomes from two, randomized mindfulness intervention conditions, and used a comparison group of students without an SUD diagnosis (N = 29) sampled from the community. Results indicate significant post-intervention impacts on recovery students’ depression symptomology and on two separate measures of impulsivity (t(22) = 2.358, p < .05; t(20) = 2.358, p < .05; t(17) = 3.979, p < .01, respectively), although no significant differences between intervention condition were noted. Findings from the current study echo similar studies with comparable samples. Implications for the dosage and approach of group-format mindfulness interventions for adolescent samples are discussed.