A priori power analysis was conducted using G*Power 3.1 software. With the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) score as the primary outcome, a medium effect size (d = 0.6), alpha level of 0.05, and statistical power of 0.90, the analysis indicated a required sample size of 60 participants per group. To account for an estimated 20% attrition rate, the final target sample size was set at 150 participants. Executive function capacities are closely linked to children’s emotion regulation and emotion dysregulation across development (Groves et al., 2021; Pozo-Rodríguez et al., 2026).

This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committees and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Ethical review and approval was not required for this study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The study protocol was reviewed by the Ethics Committee of the Future Industries College, Xi’an Peihua University, Xi’an, China, which confirmed that the project constituted minimal-risk research embedded in regular classroom activities and therefore met the criteria for exemption from formal ethics review. Written informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of all participating children, and children provided assent prior to participation.

As shown in the participant flow diagram (Figure 1), a total of 210 children were assessed for eligibility at baseline. A total of 150 eligible children were randomly assigned to the mindfulness education group (n = 75) or control group (n = 75). Five children in the mindfulness group and 4 children in the control group dropped out of the intervention due to excessive absenteeism (>20% sessions) or family relocation. In total, 140 children in both groups completed the full study protocol and were included in the analyses (70 children in each group).

As shown in Table 1, at baseline, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographic variables (age, gender, parental education level), the primary outcome measure (score of emotion regulation strategy), the two dimensions of the secondary outcome measure (emotion management), or family environment covariates (all p > 0.05). This suggests that the randomization procedure was properly carried out and that the two groups were balanced at baseline, providing a valid basis for subsequent evaluation.

Results from the repeated-measures ANCOVA, summarized in Table 2, showed that mindfulness education significantly improved children’s emotion regulation capacity. Regarding the primary outcome measure, the repeated-measures ANCOVA revealed a significant time × group interaction (F = 15.37, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.101), indicating that the children in the mindfulness group demonstrated much greater improvement in emotion regulation strategy scores than those in the control group. The difference between the two groups was significant at post-test (p = 0.003).

About the secondary measures, the results also demonstrated much greater improvement in the two emotional behavioral responses: the teacher-rated Emotion Management Scale exhibited a significant interaction effect (F = 9.85, p = 0.002, partial η² = 0.067), and the negative expression scores in the Disappointing Gift Task also demonstrated a significant interaction (F = 12.41, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.083). All effect sizes were medium, indicating that mindfulness education significantly improves children’s emotion regulation capacity (Figure 2).

As shown in Table 3, a repeated-measures ANCOVA revealed that mindfulness education produced significant improvements across all components of children’s executive function. For inhibition control and cognitive flexibility, a significant time × group interaction was found in the accuracy rate of the Hearts and Flowers task (F = 11.29, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.076), with the mindfulness group demonstrating substantially greater improvement compared to the control group, and the between-group difference reaching statistical significance (p = 0.008). Regarding working memory, the Digit Span Task scores also showed a significant interaction effect (F = 8.74, p = 0.004, partial η² = 0.060), indicating more pronounced improvement in working memory capacity in the mindfulness group. For set-shifting ability, perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test showed a significant interaction (F = 10.56, p = 0.001, partial η² = 0.071), with the mindfulness group showing a significantly greater reduction in errors than the control group. All effect sizes were medium, confirming that mindfulness education effectively improves children’s core executive functions (Figure 3).

The mediation analysis output is shown in Table 4. Executive function behavior served as an important mediator of the effect of the mindfulness intervention on children’s emotion regulation. The total indirect effect was 3.67 (Bootstrapped 95% CI: LLCI = 2.42, ULCI = 5.08, p < 0.001), which explained 53.8% of the total effect. The mediating effect of inhibitory control (effect = 1.28, p = 0.002), working memory (effect = 0.89, p = 0.008), and cognitive flexibility (effect = 1.50, p = 0.001) was all statistically significant, and the mediating effect of cognitive flexibility was the strongest. These results suggested that mindfulness education affected children’s emotion regulation not only through direct effects but also through indirect effects via improvements in the three executive function components, further validating the multiple mediation effect of executive function in the relationship between mindfulness and emotion regulation.

Results from this study showed that an 8-week mindfulness education program enhanced emotion regulation and executive function in school-aged children, supporting the primary hypothesis. Regarding emotion regulation, compared with those in the control group, children in the mindfulness group showed greater gains in the use of emotion regulation strategies and teacher-rated externalizing behaviors at school, and exhibited different emotional-behavioral responses during the laboratory assessment. These results are consistent with previous studies, confirming that mindfulness training helps children be more nonjudgmentally aware of their present-moment experiences, acknowledge the fluctuation of emotions without being impelled by them in the moment, and hence achieve more efficient cognitive and behavioral emotion management (Spencer et al., 2023; Pickerell et al., 2023; Rowland et al., 2023; Zenner et al., 2014; Phan et al., 2022; Shapiro et al., 2006).

More importantly, this is the first study, to our knowledge, to demonstrate the synergistic enhancement of the three basic components of executive function, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, in a single framework, through mindfulness education. Mindfulness training that asks children to attend to the breath trains inhibitory control; gently redirecting attention when the mind wanders strengthens working memory and cognitive flexibility; and children adopting an open attitude toward the shift in internal experiences in the moment cultivates cognitive flexibility (Chen et al., 2022; Zebdi et al., 2021). In other words, the above three basic components of executive function repeatedly activate and strengthen neural circuits. Subjective rating scales, in addition to objective behavioral tasks, are used in this study, which provides strong empirical support for the claim that mindfulness training is a practical approach to enhancing executive function in children. In contrast, previous research has focused mainly on adults or on a single aspect of executive function.

The mediation analysis demonstrates that executive function serves as a significant mediator in the relationship between mindfulness education and children’s emotion regulation. The mediation analysis demonstrates that executive function serves as a significant mediator in the relationship between mindfulness education and children’s emotion regulation (Groves et al., 2021; Pozo-Rodríguez et al., 2026)^. Rather than operating solely through direct pathways, mindfulness training substantially enhances emotion regulation by improving three core executive function components: inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. The identified “mindfulness → executive function → emotion regulation” pathway reveals specific cognitive mechanisms through which mindfulness exerts its effects.

Enhanced inhibitory control enables children to pause when emotional impulses arise, creating crucial temporal and psychological space for subsequent cognitive regulation (Deplus et al., 2016; Ren et al., 2020; Department of Psychology, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran, 2020). Improved working memory allows children to simultaneously maintain emotional experiences and long-term goals, such as maintaining social harmony, thereby facilitating more adaptive regulatory strategies (Gouveia et al., 2019; Children and Adolescent Mental Health Research Group, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain, 2019). Increased cognitive flexibility helps children disengage from negative emotional contexts and flexibly shift perspectives, reducing rigid, maladaptive response patterns.

This study advances self-regulation research by connecting macro-level behavioral outcomes with underlying cognitive mechanisms—executive function—and linking these mechanisms to an evidence-based educational intervention. The complete pathway from intervention to mechanism to outcome provides a new theoretical framework for understanding and promoting children’s psychological health.

Although culture can shape how mindfulness is perceived and accepted, core components of mindfulness are generally regarded as cross-culturally applicable, including present-moment attention regulation and a nonjudgmental, accepting stance toward internal experiences (Shapiro et al., 2006). These core skills are not dependent on culture-specific beliefs and can be delivered as practical self-regulation strategies in structured school contexts (Zenner et al., 2014; Phan et al., 2022). In the present setting, the brief, skills-focused classroom format and its alignment with daily school routines may help explain the program’s feasibility and its benefits for children’s executive function and emotion regulation. This framing clarifies why mindfulness-based education can be successful in this context despite potential cultural differences in attitudes toward mindfulness.

Despite the rigorous design, several limitations warrant consideration. First, the sample from specific regional community schools limits generalizability, necessitating future validation across broader geographical, cultural, and clinical populations, including children with anxiety or ADHD. Second, while incorporating objective behavioral tasks, the study relied primarily on parent and teacher reports for emotion regulation assessment. Future research would benefit from incorporating physiological measures such as heart rate variability and EEG to establish a more comprehensive assessment framework. Third, the exclusive focus on short-term post-intervention effects leaves unanswered questions about the long-term sustainability of mindfulness benefits and associated neural changes.

Future research should prioritize three key directions. Longitudinal follow-up studies are essential to examine the sustained durability of mindfulness effects. Neuroimaging approaches, exceptionally functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), could elucidate the neural substrates through which mindfulness influences brain development in children. From an applied perspective, research should explore practical strategies for integrating mindfulness education into standard school curricula and investigate personalized intervention approaches tailored to individual characteristics, such as temperament and baseline executive function levels.