Longitudinal associations between conscientiousness, dispositional mindfulness, and anxiety and depression in Chinese adolescents

Conscientiousness and dispositional mindfulness (DM) are two significant predictors of anxiety and depression in adolescents. However, little is known about whether there are bidirectional relations between any two of the three variables and whether DM mediates the longitudinal relations between conscientiousness and anxiety and depression in adolescents. The present study was conducted to address this issue using a two-wave longitudinal design. A total of 1191 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.35 years at T1; 53.7% girls) completed the measures at two time points (approximately one and a half years interval). Results of the cross-lagged panel model showed that changes in conscientiousness predicted changes in DM over time, but the inverse predictions did not hold. There were no reciprocal relations between conscientiousness and anxiety or depression. However, there were reciprocal relations between DM and anxiety and depression. Furthermore, the longitudinal mediation model results revealed that DM fully mediated the longitudinal relations between conscientiousness and anxiety and depression. The present research identifies directional relations between conscientiousness and DM and their longitudinal associations with anxiety and depression. These findings provide new insights into prevention and intervention for mental health problems in adolescents.