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

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.