Mindfulness in Parenting and Coparenting

Abstract

Mindfulness has been established as a critical psychosocial variable for the well-being of individuals; however, less is understood regarding the role of mindfulness within the family context of parents, coparents, and children. This study tested a model examining the process by which parent dispositional mindfulness relates to parenting and coparenting relationship quality through mindful parenting and coparenting. Participants were 485 parents (59.2% mothers) from three community samples of families with youth across three developmental stages: young childhood (3 – 7 yrs.; n = 164), middle childhood (8 – 12 yrs.; n = 161), and adolescence (13 – 17 yrs.; n = 160). Path analysis using maximum likelihood estimation was employed to test primary hypotheses. The proposed model demonstrated excellent fit. Findings across all three youth development stages indicated both direct effects or parent dispositional mindfulness, as well as indirect effects through mindful parenting and mindful coparenting, with parenting and coparenting relationship quality. Implications for intervention and prevention efforts are discussed.

Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour

“…As a secondary step, the corresponding authors of the studies identified from the database searches were emailed, seeking additional contributions (including unpublished data), consistent with the study's eligibility criteria. We received responses from nine authors (within the 1‐month response window specified), resulting in an additional three studies that met our eligibility criteria (Parent, McKee, Rough, & Forehand, ; Parent, McKee, Anton, et al ., ; Schonert‐Reichl et al ., ). Lastly, the reference lists of the articles identified from the literature search were inspected for any additional relevant articles.…”

Work-Family Conflict and Mindful Parenting: The Mediating Role of Parental Psychopathology Symptoms and Parenting Stress in a Sample of Portuguese Employed Parents

“…Over the last decade, several researchers, particularly those interested in family and parent–child relationships, have been showing an increasing interest in the study of the applications of mindfulness to the parenting context (e.g., Dumas, 2005; Singh et al, 2007; Bögels and Restifo, 2014; Parent et al, 2016a). Mindful parenting is a parental approach that can be simply described as bringing non-judgmental, compassionate, and present-centered awareness into parent–child interactions (Kabat-Zinn and Kabat-Zinn, 1997; Bögels and Restifo, 2014; Bögels et al, 2014).…”

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

“…When parents integrate mindfulness into the parenting process, they may have more awareness about their parenting practices. Correlational studies do find a significant association between mindful parenting and traditional parenting practices ( Geurtzen et al, 2015 ; Parent et al, 2016a ). Furthermore, the indirect effect of mindful parenting on children’s outcome through traditional parenting practices has been found across different developmental stages ( Parent et al, 2016b ).…”

“…In addition, mother–child dyads were used in the current study. Previous research that investigated the relationship between mindful parenting and parenting practice has mainly focused on parent-reported data (e.g., Geurtzen et al, 2015 ; Parent et al, 2016a ), which may increase the risk of common method bias. In the current study, parenting practice was reported by the child, which was specified as children’s perceived maternal warmth, as well as children’s own dispositional mindfulness.…”