The Indirect Path From Mindful Parenting to Emotional Problems in Adolescents: The Role of Maternal Warmth and Adolescents' Mindfulness

Reducing parenting stress in Chinese parents of children with learning disabilities with a mindful parenting program: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Parents raising children with Learning Disabilities (LDs) often face multiple challenges and high levels of parenting stress, especially in societies with intense academic competitions. Mindful parenting (MP) is an emerging approach that brings mindful awareness to parent-child interactions and is found effective in reducing parenting stress in various parent populations.

AIMS

This study examined the effectivenesss of an 8-week online MP program on Chinese parents of children with LDs.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

A MP program was adapted and implemented in an online format with 69 parents of children with LDs. A randomized controlled trial design was used to examine the efficacy of the mindful parenting group compared with a wait-list control group. Parenting stress, mindful parenting and self-compassion were assessed pre- and post-intervention.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Compared with the wait-list control group, the MP group participants showed decreased parenting stress (d = 0.62, p < 0.05), improved mindful parenting (d = 0.63, p < 0.05), and increased self-compassion (d = 0.61, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

These findings support the effectiveness of an online MP intervention in reducing parenting stress and increasing mindful parenting and self-compassion among Chinese parents of children with LDs. The behavioral and intrapersonal aspects of MP are more amenable to improvement, whereas the attitudinal and interpersonal aspects, particularly non-judgmental acceptance and compassion towards the child, are resistant to change. Future studies should explore strategies to enhance these attitudinal aspects and interpersonal processes of MP.

Mindful Parenting: Attachment of Deaf Children and Resilience in Their Mothers

Attachment and resilience are crucial in parent-child interaction. In this study, we investigated the effect of a mindful parenting program on the attachment of deaf children and the resilience of their hearing mothers. The present study was a semi-randomized controlled trial design. Thirty mothers with deaf children were randomly selected from Deaf School in Tehran, Iran. They were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. The intervention group participated in an eight-session mindful parenting program, while the control group did not participate in this program. Both groups completed the Kinship Center Attachment Questionnaire and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale before and after the intervention. The data were analyzed using the repeated measures analysis of variance test. The results showed that the intervention significantly and positively influenced the attachment of deaf children and resilience in their mothers in the post-test, and the persistence of this effect was maintained in the follow-up stage (p < .001). This study suggests that mindful parenting can promote attachment of deaf children and resilience in their mothers. In addition, the mothers attested to the social validity of the program.

Mindful parenting and closeness in Chinese mother-adolescent dyads: The mediating role of adolescent self-disclosure

Although having strong influences on adolescents' optimal development, mother-adolescent closeness is greatly challenged in early adolescence. Mindful parenting may be a protective factor for relational adjustment to early adolescence, but its connection with closeness within the mother-adolescent dyad has not been adequately examined in the literature. This study aimed to investigate the effects of how mindful parenting on the day-to-day mother-adolescent relationship dynamics, evaluating the relations between mindful parenting and mother-adolescent closeness and the mediating role of adolescent self-disclosure. A total of 76 Chinese mother-adolescent dyads completed a baseline measure of mindful parenting and 14-day measures of adolescent-report self-disclosure, mother-perceived closeness, and adolescent-perceived closeness. Mindful parenting significantly predicted both mother-perceived and adolescent-perceived closeness, with adolescent self-disclosure serving as a mediator. Adolescent self-disclosure predicted higher mother-adolescent closeness on the same day, but such effects did not carry over to the next day. Our findings provided evidence supporting mindful parenting as a resource for facilitating mother-adolescent closeness in early adolescence. This investigation also encouraged future studies to employ more intensive ambulatory assessments to clarify the daily process of how mindful parenting shapes mother-adolescent relationship dynamics.

The Association Between Mindful Parenting and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: The Role of Mother-Child Communication

This study aimed to explore the mediation process from maternal mindful parenting to adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems through mother-child communication and adolescent self-disclosure. A total of 496 mother-adolescent dyads participated in the current study. Mother-reported mindful parenting and mother-child communication and adolescent-reported self-disclosure and behavior problems were collected. Path analysis results showed that mothers' mindful parenting was indirectly associated with adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors through mother-child communication and adolescent self-disclosure. In addition, the specific components of mindful parenting were examined in detail. The component of interacting with full attention showed unique patterns, while components of compassion and acceptance and emotion awareness of children showed similar pattern with the total score. These findings contribute to the knowledge of the mechanism underlying how mindful parenting benefit adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and have implications for clinical interventions.

„Mindful Parenting“ – Achtsamkeit in der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung

Zusammenfassung. Elterliche Selbstregulation ist von großer Bedeutung für die Eltern-Kind-Interaktion und die Entwicklung des Kindes. Achtsamkeitsbasierte Interventionen zielen grundsätzlich auf die Verbesserung dieser Fähigkeit, indem sie neurokognitive Funktionen positiv beeinflussen. Das neuere Konzept des „Mindful Parenting“ betont vor allem Aspekte der Achtsamkeit in der Gestaltung der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung. In den letzten Jahren wurden erstmals achtsamkeitsbasierte Interventionen speziell für Eltern entwickelt und evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für einen positiven Effekt solcher Programme auf Eltern und Kinder. Diese können aufgrund methodischer Einschränkungen zwar nur als vorläufig gelten, lassen aber weitere Forschungsbemühungen als lohnend erscheinen.

A review of mindful parenting

The benefits of mindfulness are widely recognized, and it has received increasing research attention. Recently, researchers have extended the concept and practice of mindfulness to the parent–child relationship and proposed the construct of mindful parenting, that is, parenting with mindfulness. However, mindful parenting is a relatively new concept in the field of family studies, and the contents, psychometrically robust measures, outcomes, and cultivation methods of mindful parenting warrant in-depth exploration. This article presents a systematic review of mindful parenting. We first conceptualized mindful parenting by consolidating the existence of this construct. Then, we summarized various measurements to assess this construct, and reviewed theoretical models and empirical research on the roles of mindful parenting. We also illustrated the ways to enhance mindful parenting and provided current evidence regarding these methods. Further, we discussed the limitations in this field and proposed future research directions.

Naturalistic development of trait mindfulness: A longitudinal examination of victimization and supportive relationships in early adolescence

Scholars have only just begun to examine elements of young adolescents' social ecologies that explain naturalistic variation in trait mindfulness and its development over time. We argue that trait mindfulness develops as a function of chronically encountered ecologies that are likely to foster or thwart the repeated enactment of mindful states over time. Using data from 4,593 fourth and seventh grade students (50% female; MageG4 = 9.02; 71% English first language) from 32 public school districts in British Columbia (BC), Canada, we examined links from peer belonging, connectedness with adults at home, and peer victimization to mindfulness over time. Variable-centered analyses indicated that young adolescents with lower victimization in fourth grade reported higher mindfulness in seventh grade, and that cross-sectionally within seventh grade victimization, peer belonging, and connectedness with adults at home were each associated with mindfulness. Contrary to our hypothesis, connectedness with adults at home moderated the longitudinal association between victimization and mindfulness such that the negative association was stronger among young adolescents with high (vs. low) levels of connectedness with adults at home. Person-centered analysis of the fourth graders' data confirmed our variable-centered findings, yielding four latent classes of social ecology whose mindfulness levels in seventh grade largely tracked with their victimization levels (from highest to lowest mindfulness): (1) flourishing relationships, (2) unvictimized but weak relationships with adults, (3) moderately victimized but strong relationships, and (4) victimized but strong relationships. Overall, our findings contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that trait mindfulness may develop as a function of ecologically normative experiences in young adolescents' everyday lives.

Chinese adolescents' mindfulness and internalizing symptoms: The mediating role of rumination and acceptance

BACKGROUND

Internalizing problems during adolescence are common psychiatric symptoms. Previous research has demonstrated that mindfulness was significantly and negatively associated with and mindfulness-based interventions would be efficacious for aiming at adolescents' internalizing problems. However, research about how mindfulness could improve internalizing symptoms among Chinese adolescents is sparse and its potential mechanism is still unclear. The present study adopted rumination and acceptance to examine their mediation effects between Chinese adolescents' mindfulness and internalizing symptoms.

METHODS

A final sample of 1,554 adolescents (aged from 10 to 18 years old, M = 15.58, SD =1.25) were recruited from schools in South China. Participants were asked to complete a package of questionnaires measuring mindfulness, internalizing problems (indicated by generalized anxiety and depression), rumination, and acceptance.

RESULTS

Structural equation model confirmed our hypothesis and showed that rumination, as well as acceptance, significantly mediated the relationship between Chinese adolescents' mindfulness level and internalizing symptoms (generalized anxiety and depression).

LIMITATIONS

a) only cross-sectional design was employed in the study; b) most of participants were normal adolescent students, without a diagnosis of any psychiatric disorder; c) all the measures were self-reported by adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

Mindfulness not only directly impacted on adolescents' internalizing problems, but also indirectly improved their anxious and depression emotions via the reduction of rumination and the increase of acceptance. Hence, mindfulness training as well as the application of emotion regulation skills may be useful for adolescents exposed to the likelihood of suffering from internalizing problems.

Translation and Validation of a Chinese Version of the Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire (MIPQ)

OBJECTIVE

To translate the Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire (MIPQ) into Standard Mandarin and then explore the reliability and validity of this newly translated measure in a large sample of Chinese middle school parents.

METHODS

We translated the MIPQ using the forward-backward method and pilot tested it on a sample of parents of adolescents (aged 12-16 years) in China. Following minor modifications, 1057 Chinese parents (Mothers or Fathers) in two middle schools (one in the North and one in the South of China) completed the translated Chinese Mindfulness in Parenting Questionnaire (C-MIPQ). To determine test-retest reliability 121 participants completed the C-MIPQ again 2 weeks later. In order to test convergent validity, 395 participants completed the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS), Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire-Short Version (PSDQ-short) and the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P). The Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS), Beck Depression Scale (BDI-13), and socioeconomic status (SES) were completed in order to test discriminant validity.

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the two-factor model indicated in the original study was a good fit. The total score of the scale and the scores of the two dimensions ('Mindful discipline' and 'Being in the moment with the child') were significantly positively correlated with the total score of the MAAS, IM-P and the authoritative parenting style in the PSDQ-short, demonstrating convergent validity. Discriminant validity was established as there was no difference in C-MIPQ sub-scale scores across any of the SES variables except for levels of education (parents with higher education had higher scores on the 'being in the moment with the child' subscale). In addition, the C-MIPQ was negatively related to stress and depression. Cronbach's alpha of the total scale was 0.93 (and 0.88, 0.89 for the two dimensions of the C-MIPQ) indicating excellent internal consistency. Test-retest reliability was good (intra-class correlation of 0.83).

CONCLUSION

This study is the first step toward establishing the psychometric properties of the C-MIPQ for measuring mindful parenting in parents of adolescents aged 12-16 years; additional studies will be needed in order to test this further.

Is Mindful Parenting Associated With Adolescents' Emotional Eating? The Mediating Role of Adolescents' Self-Compassion and Body Shame

This study aimed to explore whether parents' mindful parenting skills were associated with adolescents' emotional eating through adolescents' levels of self-compassion and body shame. The sample included 572 dyads composed of a mother or a father and his/her child (12-18 years old), with normal weight (BMI = 5-85th percentile) or with overweight/obesity with or without nutritional treatment (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) according to the WHO Child Growth Standards. Parents completed self-report measures of mindful parenting (Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale), and adolescents completed measures of self-compassion (Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form), body shame (Experience of Shame Scale), and emotional eating (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire). Two path models, one with the total score for mindful parenting and the other with its dimensions, were tested in AMOS. Mindful parenting, specifically the dimension of compassion for the child, was indirectly associated with emotional eating through adolescents' self-compassion (point estimate = -0.27, p = 0.03, CI 95% [-0.61, -0.06]) and through self-compassion and body shame sequentially (point estimate = -0.19, p = 0.03, CI 95% [-0.37, -0.05]). The path model was invariant across weight groups but not across adolescents' sex (the indirect effects were significant among girls only). This study provides a novel comprehensive model of how mindful parenting, especially the dimension of compassion for the child, can be associated with adolescents' emotional eating behaviors by suggesting a potential sequence of mechanisms that may explain this association. This study suggests the beneficial effect of both mindful parenting and adolescents' self-compassion skills for adolescent girls struggling with feelings of body shame and emotional eating behaviors.