Mindfulness and late adolescents' subjective well-being: The serial mediating roles of rejection sensitivity and self-esteem

Subjective well-being produces a wide range of beneficial results in adolescents. Mindfulness could be an essential predictor of subjective well-being, while few studies have examined the mechanism involved between them. In this study, we examined the relation between mindfulness and subjective well-being using a longitudinal design and the chain mediating effect of rejection sensitivity and self-esteem. A total of 1156 adolescents were recruited to complete this study. Participants completed self-report questionnaires regarding mindfulness, rejection sensitivity, self-esteem, and subjective well-being three times over six months (3-month interval). Results showed that mindfulness at T1 can predict subjective well-being at T3. On the one hand, rejection sensitivity and self-esteem at T2 mediated the above relationship separately. On the other hand, mindfulness at T1 predicted subjective well-being at T3 through the chain mediating effect of rejection sensitivity and self-esteem at T2. The finding indicates that exploring the mechanism by which mindfulness is associated with adolescent subjective well-being over time has potential value for building positive qualities.