Mindful Parenting Mediated Between Mothers’ Perceived Stress During COVID-19 and Child Adjustment

Abstract

Objectives Maternal stress is associated with a myriad of maladjusted outcomes among children. To identify the role of mindful parenting between mothers’ stress and child adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study tested competing hypotheses with mothers’ mindful parenting as a mediator versus a moderator. Methods A total of 172 Chinese mothers of preschool-aged children participated in this study. Participants completed a self-report measure of stress during COVID-19 and mindful parenting, as well as a mother-report measure of children’s prosocial behavior, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems. Structural equation models were conducted to examine the mediation versus moderation effects of mindful parenting between mothers’ stress during COVID-19 and child adjustment, after controlling for family income, children’s age, sex, and adjustment at baseline. Results Findings indicated that mindful parenting mediated the link between mothers’ stress during COVID-19 and child adjustment, including internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. A test of competing hypothesis showed that mindful parenting did not moderate between mothers’ stress during COVID-19 and child adjustment. Conclusions This study revealed the mediating effects of mindful parenting between mothers’ perceived stress during COVID-19 and child adjustment. The findings inform researchers and practitioners about mindful parenting as a potential mechanism between maternal stress and child adjustment during the pandemic.

Mindful parenting and its association with the prosocial behaviors of children

“…Mothers' stress during this challenging period manifests in child adjustment issues, spanning internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behaviors. Remarkably, mindful parenting acts as a mediating force, attenuating the impact of maternal stress on child adjustment, thereby underscoring its resilience-enhancing role [39]. This mediation extends to various dimensions, including prosocial behavior, externalizing problems, and internalizing problems, establishing mindful parenting practices as pivotal contributors to navigating challenging circumstances.…”

Islamic Legal Perspective on the Implementation of Online Marriage Contracts during the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…25 In Indonesia, new rules have been implemented to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus 26 , one of which is the 14-day quarantine rule for those coming from outside the city or abroad who are affected by COVID-19. 27 The community consciously obeys this policy for the sake of collective health. 28 One interesting story is a husband and wife who had to get married online because the husband-to-be, Kardiman bin Haeruddin, had to undergo quarantine after traveling from a city exposed to COVID-19 cases.…”

Parental self-control facilitates adolescent psychological adjustment sequentially through parents’ perceived stress/mindful parenting and adolescent self-control.

“…When parents experience significant parenting or nonparenting stress, they are prone to lapses in mindful attention during interactions with children and so are more likely to rely on automatic hostile, coercive, and ineffective parenting behavior (Cheung & Wang, 2022; Parent et al, 2021). By contrast, research has found that mindful parenting is conducive to parent–child interactions and lessens both parenting and nonparenting stress (Corthorn & Milicic, 2016; Fernandes et al, 2021; Moreira & Canavarro, 2018).…”