Time‐lagged associations of mindfulness and self‐regulation with affect and cognition: An ecological momentary assessment study

Abstract

Mindfulness and self‐regulation practice have shown benefits in reducing emotional disorders and improving cognitive outcomes. This study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine time‐lagged associations of momentary mindfulness and self‐regulation on affective and cognitive outcomes within college students' natural environments. College students (n = 186) received six surveys per day for seven consecutive days in 2021, 2022, and 2023 using the Expiwell application. Each survey measured students' momentary affect, perceived cognition, mindfulness, and self‐regulation levels. Due to nested data structure, multilevel models were used for analysis. Findings from 4982 EMA surveys revealed that higher levels of momentary mindfulness and self‐regulation at one‐time point were positively associated with perceived cognition (β = 0.102, p < 0.001; β = 0.054, p < 0.05) and positive affect (β = 0.061, p < 0.01; β = 0.057, p < 0.05), and negatively associated with negative affect (β = −0.023, p < 0.005; β = −0.019, p < 0.05) at the subsequent timepoints within a day, after controlling for between‐person associations and other covariates. Higher states of momentary mindfulness and self‐regulation were associated with enhanced affect and cognition at later timepoints within a day. Given these associations, targeting health interventions to induce more frequent practice of mindfulness and self‐regulation in students' daily routines could be a potential way to improve their momentary affect and cognition.