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Del Hoyo-Bilbao J, Orue I. Relationship between maternal anxiety and infants' temperament: The mediating role of mindful parenting. Infant Behav Dev 2024; 75:101931. [PMID: 38458100 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2024.101931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
Research has indicated that maternal anxiety does have an effect on infant temperament. Therefore, it is important to study the variables that could play a role in this relationship. In this study, we propose that mindful parenting could act as a mediator in this relationship. Thus, the main objective was to evaluate the relationship between maternal anxiety and child temperament (i.e., negative affectivity, surgency, and effortful control) through the mindful parenting of mothers. Mothers (N = 225) self-reported their anxiety, mindful parenting use, and the temperament of their old infants (aged 4-18 months). First, the reliability and validity results showed that the infant version of the Interpersonal Mindful Parenting questionnaire was a good tool for the assessment of mindful parenting among parents with infants. The five-factor structure of the questionnaire was confirmed; it involved self-regulation in the parenting relationship, listening with full attention, emotional awareness of the child, compassion for the child, and non-judgmental acceptance of parenting behavior. Correlational analyses showed that maternal anxiety was related to negative affectivity and effortful control in infants. Furthermore, mediational analyses indicated that the relation between maternal anxiety and infant negative affectivity was mediated by self-regulation in parenting and the emotional awareness of the child. In addition, the relation between maternal anxiety and infant effortful control was mediated by compassion for the child and listening with full attention. These results contribute to knowledge about the relation between maternal anxiety and child temperament, which may increase the risk of psychological symptoms. The results of this study suggest that promoting mindful parenting skills may be beneficial for affectivity and effortful control in infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Del Hoyo-Bilbao
- Deusto Stress Research, Department of Psychology, Health Sciences Faculty, University of Deusto, Spain.
| | - Izaskun Orue
- Deusto Stress Research, Department of Psychology, Health Sciences Faculty, University of Deusto, Spain
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Bi S, Huang J, Cui L, Zhou H. Within-Family Associations Between Parental Psychological Control and Externalizing Problems Among Chinese Children: Links to Between-Family Mindful Parenting. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 2024; 52:65-77. [PMID: 37466747 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-023-01101-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
Previous longitudinal studies have documented bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and children's externalizing problems over months or years. However, most studies have only examined these associations at the between-family level, and there is a lack of intensive longitudinal data (ILD) on psychological control and children's externalizing problems. Thus, this daily diary study examined the bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and externalizing problems among Chinese children. Further, we explored whether between-family mindful parenting linked to the mean levels and daily fluctuations of parental psychological control and children's externalizing problems. The sample included 71 parents of children between 7 to 13 years old (50.7% male; Mage = 9.92, SD = 1.46). Our findings indicate that at the within-family level, higher parental psychological control than usual predicted increases in externalizing problems among children reported by parents the next day, but not vice versa. Furthermore, between-family mindful parenting was negatively associated with the mean levels of psychological control and children's externalizing problems, as well as with fewer fluctuations of parental psychological control. This study contributes to the understanding of the within-family associations between parental psychological control and children's externalizing problems on a daily basis. Finally, we discuss implications for prevention and intervention programs targeting negative parenting and child externalizing problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Bi
- Department of Applied Psychology, College of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiayi Huang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Lixian Cui
- Division of Arts and Sciences, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
| | - Hui Zhou
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
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Larrucea-Iruretagoyena M, Orue I. The Mediating Role of Mindful Parenting in the Relationship Between Parental Anxiety and Youth's Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties. J Youth Adolesc 2023; 52:1471-1480. [PMID: 36811698 PMCID: PMC10175410 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01752-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
One of the central questions in the theory of the intergenerational transmission of psychological symptoms is to identify whether parenting practices explain the transmission of psychological symptoms from parents to youth. This study examined the mediating mechanism of mindful parenting in the relationship between parental anxiety and youth's emotional and behavioral difficulties. In three waves separated by six months, longitudinal data were collected from 692 Spanish youth (54% girls) aged between 9 and 15 years (Mage = 12.84 years, SD = 1.22 years at Wave 1) and their parents. Path analysis showed that maternal mindful parenting mediated the relationship between maternal anxiety and the youth's emotional and behavioral difficulties. No mediating effect was found concerning fathers; however, marginal bidirectional relationships were obtained between paternal mindful parenting and youth's emotional and behavioral difficulties. This study addresses one of the main concerns about the theory of intergenerational transmission using a multi-informant and longitudinal study design, concluding that maternal anxiety predicts less mindful parenting practices and these in turn predict youth's emotional and behavioral difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Izaskun Orue
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
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Yue L, Cui N, Golfenshtein N, Cui N, Hao Y, Lyu P. The protective role of mindful parenting against child maltreatment and aggressive behavior: an exploratory study among Chinese parent-adolescent dyads. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 2022; 16:72. [PMID: 36042476 PMCID: PMC9429749 DOI: 10.1186/s13034-022-00507-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND It is well-established that child maltreatment practiced by parents is associated with adolescent aggression. Emerging evidence has suggested that higher levels of mindful parenting are associated with fewer negative parenting practices. However, the relationships among mindful parenting, child maltreatment, and adolescent aggression remain unclear. AIM To examine the association between mindful parenting, child maltreatment, and adolescent aggressive behavior among Chinese parent-adolescent dyads. METHODS Survey data from 554 Chinese parent-adolescent dyads were used for the analysis. Parents reported mindful parenting, and adolescents reported three forms of child maltreatment (i.e., physical abuse, psychological aggression, and neglect) by their parents and aggressive behavior. Path models were used to analyze whether higher levels of mindful parenting were associated with decreased likelihood of parent-to-adolescent maltreatment that were further related to lower levels of adolescent aggression. RESULTS Mindful parenting and its two factors (i.e., interaction with full attention and compassion and acceptance) were associated with lower likelihood of physical abuse and psychological aggression, which were related to decreased levels of adolescent aggressive behavior. Stratified analyses by parent gender showed that the path from interaction with full attention to adolescent aggression through psychological aggression was also significant or marginally significant in both mother-adolescent and father-adolescent dyads. Stratified analyses by adolescent gender demonstrated that the paths from interaction with full attention to physical abuse and psychological aggression were significant, which were also significantly correlated with adolescent aggression among male adolescents, whereas the mindful parenting-child maltreatment-adolescent aggression paths were not significant among female adolescents. CONCLUSIONS The findings contributed to the existing literature by assessing mindful parenting as a multifaceted construct and exploring the gender differences in the relationships. Gender-tailored interventions to improve mindful parenting, specifically focusing on the parents' ability of interacting with adolescents providing full attention, compassion, and acceptance may work towards preventing child maltreatment and promoting adolescent behavioral health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Yue
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University, No. 44 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, 250012 Shandong China
| | - Naixue Cui
- School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University, No. 44 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, China.
| | - Nadya Golfenshtein
- grid.18098.380000 0004 1937 0562Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Naisong Cui
- Rizhao Agricultural College, Rizhao, Shandong China
| | - Yinjun Hao
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University, No. 44 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, 250012 Shandong China
| | - Pingping Lyu
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University, No. 44 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, 250012 Shandong China
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Do Improvements in Maternal Mental Health Predict Improvements in Parenting? Mechanisms of the Mindful with Your Baby Training. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19137571. [PMID: 35805226 PMCID: PMC9265470 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19137571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Postpartum mental health symptoms are associated with parenting difficulties, which have negative consequences for child development. Interventions for young mothers should target their mental health problems and parenting difficulties. Mindful with Your Baby (MwyB) is an intervention for parents, with a baby, who experience (mental) health problems and/or stress or insecurity in parenting. This study seeks to replicate previous effects of MwyB regarding mindfulness, mindful parenting, maternal (mental) health (psychological distress, depressive mood, physical health complaints) and parenting outcomes (parenting stress, parental self-efficacy, bonding), and gain insight into the working mechanisms of the training. Mothers with babies aged 1–18 months (n = 61) completed questionnaires at waitlist, pretest, posttest, and 8-week follow-up. No significant differences were seen between the waitlist and pretest. Significant improvements in all outcomes were shown in the posttest (except for physical health complaints) and follow-up, compared to the pretest. Improvements in depressive symptoms and physical health complaints were dependent on improvements in mindfulness. Improvements in parental self-efficacy were dependent on improvements in mindful parenting. Improvements in some (mental) health and parenting outcomes seemed to be bidirectional. The results suggest that both mindfulness and mindful parenting are important for mothers who experience psychological distress and/or stress or insecurity in parenting their babies.
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Kil H, Shukla S, Andrade BF. Mindfulness, Parental Attributions, and Parenting: the Moderating Role of Child Mental Health. Mindfulness (N Y) 2022; 13:1782-1792. [PMID: 35729968 PMCID: PMC9192343 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-022-01916-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Objectives Research interest in mindfulness, the capacity for present-oriented, nonjudgmental attention and awareness, and its relation to parenting has been growing in recent years. However, factors facilitating the association between mindfulness and parenting are not yet well understood. In the present study, we examined whether parents’ biased causal thinking about children’s misbehaviors, i.e., parental attributions, may mediate the link between parents’ dispositional mindfulness and parenting. Given that parents of children with clinically elevated mental health difficulties tend to report more biased parental attributions, we further examined whether the proposed mediation may differ across parents of children with and without clinical diagnoses or referrals for mental health difficulties. Methods Parents (59.8% mothers) of 8- to 12-year-old children with (n = 157) and without (n = 99) clinical diagnoses or referrals for mental health difficulties participated in online surveys assessing their mindfulness, parental attributions, and negative parenting behaviors. Results More mindful parents reported less negative parenting, with the link significantly mediated by less biased parent-directed attributions, but not child-directed attributions. The mediating effect via parent-directed attributions was significantly moderated by the child’s clinical status: the effect was retained only for parents of children with clinical diagnoses or referrals for mental health difficulties. No significant moderation effect emerged for child-directed attributions. Conclusions The results provide initial support for the links among parents’ mindfulness, parental attributions, and parenting. The present findings suggest that parental mindfulness may be important for less biased parental attributions, with implications for parenting behaviors at least in the context of children’s mental health disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hali Kil
- McCain Centre for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, Montreal, H3C 3J7 Canada
| | - Serena Shukla
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Brendan F Andrade
- McCain Centre for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Canada
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Holzman JB, Kennedy SM, Grassie HL, Ehrenreich-May J. Associations between dispositional parental emotion regulation and youth mental health symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 2022; 95:102174. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Ahemaitijiang N, Fang H, Ren Y, Han ZR, Singh NN. A review of mindful parenting. JOURNAL OF PACIFIC RIM PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1177/18344909211037016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nigela Ahemaitijiang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Huiting Fang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yaxuan Ren
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhuo Rachel Han
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Nirbhay N. Singh
- Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA
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