Abstract

This study examined whether adolescents' leisure activities foster mindfulness through concentration and mood regulation, thereby alleviating stress responses. Music listening, a widespread interest among adolescents, was chosen as the leisure activity. An online survey was conducted with 623 middle and high school students nationwide. The relationships between concentration and mood regulation were analyzed through music listening, mindfulness, and daily stress responses. Data were processed using SPSS Windows software version 25 and PROCESS Macro 6 to verify the sequential mediation effect. The results showed that adolescents' music listening as a leisure activity enhanced concentration and mood regulation, fostering mindfulness and significantly reducing daily stress through a sequential mediation pathway. This study suggests that adolescents can effectively use music listening as a self-regulation strategy for stress management. The findings also supports the development of self-care mindfulness leisure programs to improve adolescent mental health.