Rates of co-morbid psychiatric conditions in children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) are hardly available, although these conditions are often considered as more responsive to treatment than the core symptoms of PDD-NOS. Ninety-four children with PDD-NOS, aged 6-12 years were included. The DISC-IV-P was administered. At least one co-morbid psychiatric disorder was present in 80.9% of the children; 61.7% had a co-morbid disruptive behavior disorder, and 55.3% fulfilled criteria of an anxiety disorder. Compared to those without co-morbid psychiatric disorders, children with a co-morbid disorder had more deficits in social communication. Co-morbid disorders occur very frequently in children with PDD-NOS, and therefore clinical assessment in those children should include assessment of co-morbid DSM-IV disorders.

The effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness training for adolescents aged 11–15 years with ADHD and parallel Mindful Parenting training for their parents was evaluated, using questionnaires as well as computerized attention tests. Adolescents (N = 10), their parents (N = 19) and tutors (N = 7) completed measurements before, immediately after, 8 weeks after and 16 weeks after training. Adolescents reported on their attention and behavioral problems and mindful awareness, and were administered two computerized sustained attention tasks. Parents as well as tutors reported on adolescents’ attention and behavioral problems and executive functioning. Parents further reported on their own parenting, parenting stress and mindful awareness. Both the mindfulness training for the adolescents and their parents was delivered in group format. First, after mindfulness training, adolescents’ attention and behavior problems reduced, while their executive functioning improved, as indicated by self-report measures as well as by father and teacher report. Second, improvements in adolescent’ actual performance on attention tests were found after mindfulness training. Moreover, fathers, but not mothers, reported reduced parenting stress. Mothers reported reduced overreactive parenting, whereas fathers reported an increase. No effect on mindful awareness of adolescents or parents was found. Effects of mindfulness training became stronger at 8-week follow-up, but waned at 16-week follow-up. Our study adds to the emerging body of evidence indicating that mindfulness training for adolescents with ADHD (and their parents) is an effective approach, but maintenance strategies need to be developed in order for this approach to be effective in the longer term.

The factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, and predictive validity of the Dutch version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-NL) were studied in a sample of meditators (n = 288) and nonmeditators (n = 451). A five-factor structure was demonstrated in both samples, and the FFMQ-NL and its subscales were shown to have good internal consistencies. Meditators scored higher on all facets of the FFMQ-NL than the participants in the nonmeditating sample. For both samples, expected negative correlations between most mindfulness facets (all except for the Observing facet) and the constructs of alexithymia, thought suppression, rumination, worry, and dissociation were found. The Observing facet of the FFMQ-NL showed an unexpected positive correlation with thought suppression in the nonmeditating sample. Furthermore, as expected, mindfulness facets were negatively related to psychological symptoms, and all mindfulness facets except for Observing and Describing significantly predicted psychological symptoms. Overall, the Dutch FFMQ demonstrated favorable psychometric properties, commensurate with its (original) English language version.

Mindfulness training for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder combined with Mindful Parenting is feasible. Although the sample size was small and no control group was included, the first outcomes of this innovative training are positive.

Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P) were studied in a general population sample of mothers of adolescents (n=866) (study 1). A six-factor structure (29 items) emerged using exploratory factor analysis. A main difference from the original IM-P was that aspects of compassion and emotional awareness were separated into different factors for the self and the child, instead of combined into one factor. In a second general population sample of mothers of adolescents (n=.99), the six-factor structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis (study 2). The proposed 29-item version of the IM-P and its subscales were shown to have good internal consistencies, apart from the sixth factor. As expected, a high correlation was found with general mindfulness questionnaires (FFMQ and FMI). Furthermore, the IM-P correlated positively as expected with quality of life and optimism and negatively with depression and dysfunctional parenting styles. These expected indications of construct validity were found in study 2, as well as in mothers (n=112) of adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (study 3) which was added to examine whether the Dutch version of the IM-P was also valid in a pediatric population. Overall, these three studies present good psychometric properties of the Dutch translation of the first measure of mindful parenting.