Multiple Pathways from Trait Mindfulness to Prosocial Behavior in Early Adolescence during the COVID-19 pandemic: Empathy as Facilitator and Forgiveness as Context-Dependent Inhibitor

A total of 955 seventh-grade students were initially recruited via census sampling, encompassing the entire population of eligible seventh-grade students from a middle school in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Data collection occurred in November 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was administered via Wenjuanxing, a popular survey platform in China. Of the initial pool, 43 participants were unable to participate in the study due to absence during the data collection window (e.g., illness, leave). All submitted questionnaires were rigorously screened for data quality. Responses were examined for patterned responding (e.g., straight-lining), inconsistent answers, and unrealistically short completion times. Following this screening process, all 912 questionnaires were retained for analysis as no cases were found that met our criteria for exclusion. The final analytical sample consisted of 912 participants, yielding a valid response rate of 95.50%. The sample included 484 boys and 428 girls, with a mean age of 12.57 years (SD = 0.60).