Mindful parenting: a Meta-analytic review of intrapersonal and interpersonal parental outcomes

Abstract

Mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) are increasingly used to reduce parental stress and to enhance dyadic interactions between parents and children. Prior reviews examining the effects of MPBs for parents have assessed restricted target populations, limited outcomes measures, and have relied on uncontrolled studies. This systematic and meta-analytic review quantified the efficacy of MBPs for parents using comprehensive intrapersonal and interpersonal outcome measures and methodologically robust studies. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effect of MBPs on parents were identified, data were extracted, and assessed for risk of bias by two independent reviewers. Twenty studies (n = 1003) were included in the analyses. Programs had moderate effects for general stress (Hedge's g = 0.410), internalizing psychological symptoms (Hedge's g = 0.519), and well-being (Hedge's g = 0.588). Small-to-moderate effects were observed for combined mindfulness (Hedge's g = 0.295), parenting stress (Hedge's g = 0.284), and parenting behavior (Hedge's g = 0.299). Effects were not significant for parental interactions with children, marital outcomes, self-compassion, emotion regulation, general mindfulness, and mindful parenting. Subgroup analyses revealed that populations with medical conditions (Hedge's g = 1.203) benefited more from MBPs compared to populations with psychological symptoms (Hedge's g = 0.452). Furthermore, parents showed greater improvement on well-being when both parents and children engaged in mindfulness training (Hedge's g = 0.838) compared to parents alone (Hedge's g = 0.700). Results support the efficacy of MBPs in improving intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes for parents. Diversity within the programs may contribute towards non-significant changes in general mindfulness and mindful parenting. Future studies should use standardized mindfulness-based parenting programs to enhance methodological rigor.

Mindful Parenting Intervention MinUTo App for Parents of Preschool Children: Study Protocol of a Randomised Controlled Trial

“…Mindful parenting also showed promising results in improving the well-being of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder [10]. In addition, the positive effects of mindful parenting on parents' well-being were more evident in parents of children with medical than psychological conditions [7]. However, despite the promising results of mindfulness-based interventions in promoting parents' mental health of children with developmental disorders, these reviews and metaanalyses suggested caution due to the small number of studies carried out [8].…”

“…Mindful parenting interventions have been proposed to support parents of children and adolescents with typical, at-risk, and atypical development, improving intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes [7]. The following paragraph mainly summarises the findings of reviews and meta-analyses.…”

“…Fourth, the intervention proposes both activities to be carried out by parents alone and activities that involve parent-child interaction (i.e., book sharing). A potential advantage was described for intervention programs where both parents and children have been involved [7].…”

“…A meta-analysis suggests that parenting intervention may have moderate size effects [7] in a non-clinical sample. We ask all parents to fill in baseline questionnaires.…”

Interpersonal Mindfulness Questionnaire: Scale Development and Validation

“…One of the most known and researched interpersonal applications of mindfulness is mindful parenting, which refers to the ability to bring nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness to parent–child interactions and the experiences of parenting (Duncan et al, 2009 ). Numerous studies found that training in mindful parenting improves the quality of parenting behaviors (Gannon et al, 2017 ) and reduces parental stress (see Anand et al, 2021 for a review) as well as improves parent-adolescent relationship quality, social skills and quality of life of children, and decreases children psychopathology symptoms and problem behaviors including aggressive behaviors (Bögels et al, 2014 ; Coatsworth et al, 2015 ; Dehkordian et al, 2017 ; Meppelink et al, 2016 ; Singh et al, 2006 , 2007 , 2010 ; Turpyn & Chaplin, 2016 ). In a recent study, mindful parenting training with mothers and their babies showed positive effects on both the mothers and babies (Potharst et al, 2017 ; for a review/meta-analysis, see Townshend et al, 2016 ).…”