Abstract
Mindful parenting is a recent concept in parenting studies and has been described as a set of parental practices or skills that seek to enhance moment-to-moment awareness in the parent–child relationship. Some studies suggest that mindful parenting is associated with parent’s dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion, while others suggest that mindful parenting can reduce parenting stress and promote a positive parenting. However, there is no study describing an integrative model with these variables. The present study explored whether parents’ dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion are associated with parenting stress and parenting styles through mindful parenting. A sample of 333 parents (87 fathers, 246 mothers) between the ages of 27 and 63 years participated in the study. The results revealed that higher levels of dispositional mindfulness and self-compassion are associated with higher levels of mindful parenting that, in turn, is associated with lower levels of parenting stress, higher levels of authoritative parenting style, and lower levels of authoritarian and permissive parenting styles. This study provides relevant and innovative data on mindful parenting research by clarifying some of the modifiable variables that may facilitate the adoption of mindful parenting and of adaptive parenting styles and decrease parenting stress. These findings have important clinical implications for the identification of groups of more vulnerable parents who would benefit most from mindful parenting interventions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin, R. R. (1992). The determinants of parenting behavior. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 407–412. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2104_12.
Abidin, R. R. (1995). Parenting Stress Index: professional manual (3rd ed.). Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
Altmaier, E., & Maloney, R. (2007). An initial evaluation of a mindful parenting program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 1231–1238. doi:10.1002/jclp.20395.
Anthony, L. G., Anthony, B. J., Glanville, D. N., Naiman, D. Q., Waanders, C., & Shaffer, S. (2005). The relationships between parenting stress, parenting behaviour and preschoolers’ social competence and behaviour problems in the classroom. Infant and Child Development, 14, 133–154. doi:10.1002/icd.385.
Bailie, C., Kuyken, W., & Sonnenberg, S. (2012). The experiences of parents in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 103–119. doi:10.1177/1359104510392296.
Barnes, S., Brown, K. W., Krusemark, E., Campbell, W. K., & Rogge, R. D. (2007). The role of mindfulness in romantic relationship satisfaction and responses to relationship stress. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 33, 482–500. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2007.00033.x.
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology, 4, 1–103. doi:10.1037/h0030372.
Baumrind, D. (1989). Rearing competent children. In W. Damon (Ed.), Child development today and tomorrow (pp. 349–378). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56–95. doi:10.1177/0272431691111004.
Beer, M., Ward, L., & Moar, K. (2013). The relationship between mindful parenting and distress in parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder. Mindfulness, 4, 102–112. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0192-4.
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: a process model. Child Development, 55, 83–96.
Bögels, S. M., & Restifo, K. (2014). Mindful parenting: a guide for mental health practitioners. New York: Springer.
Bögels, S. M., Lehtonen, A., & Restifo, K. (2010). Mindful parenting in mental health care. Mindfulness, 1, 107–120. doi:10.1007/s12671-010-0014-5.
Bögels, S. M., Hellemans, J., Van Deursen, S., Römer, M., & Van der Meulen, R. (2014). Mindful parenting in mental health care: effects on parental and child psychopathology, parental stress, parenting, coparenting, and marital functioning. Mindfulness, 5, 536–551. doi:10.1007/s12671-013-0209-7.
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822.
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Perils and promise in defining and measuring mindfulness: observations from experience. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 242–248. doi:10.1093/clipsy/bph078.
Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18, 211–237. doi:10.1080/10478400701598298.
Carapito, E., Pedro, M., & Ribeiro, M. (2008). Questionário de dimensões e estilos parentais (QDEP): Adaptação para o contexto português. Actas da XIII Conferência Internacional “Avaliação Psicológica: Formas e Contextos”, Universidade do Minho.
Cicchetti, D. (2006). Development and psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology. Theory and method (Vol. 1, pp. 1–23). New York: Wiley.
Coatsworth, J. D., Duncan, L. G., Greenberg, M. T., & Nix, R. L. (2010). Changing parent’s mindfulness, child management skills and relationship quality with their youth: results from a randomized pilot intervention trial. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 203–217. doi:10.1007/s10826-009-9304-8.
Coatsworth, J.D., Duncan, L.G., Nix, R.L., Greenberg, M.T., Gayles, J.G., Bamberger, K.T., … & Demi, M.A. (2015). Integrating mindfulness with parent training: effects of the mindfulness-enhanced strengthening families program. Developmental Psychology, 51, 26-35. doi:10.1037/a0038212.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Crnic, K. A., & Low, C. (2002). Everyday stresses and parenting. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting. Practical issues in parenting (Vol. 5, pp. 243–267). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: an integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 487–496.
De Bruin, E., Zijlstra, B., Geurtzen, N., van Zundert, R., van deWeijer-Bergsma, E., Hartman, E., … & Bögels, S. M. (2014). Mindful parenting assessed further: psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P). Mindfulness, 5(2), 200–212. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0168-4.
Deater-Deckard, K. (2004). Parenting stress. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Derntl, B., Finkelmeyer, A., Eickhoff, S., Kellerman, T., Falkenberg, D., Schneider, F., & Habel, U. (2010). Multidimensional assessment of empathic abilities: neural correlates and gender differences. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35, 67–82. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.10.006.
Dozier, M. (2000). Motivation for caregiving from an ethological perspective. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 97–100.
Dumas, J. E. (2005). Mindfulness-based parent training: strategies to lessen the grip of automaticity in families with disruptive children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34, 779–791. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3404_20.
Duncan, L. G. (2007). Assessment of mindful parenting among parents of early adolescents: development and validation of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting scale. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University.
Duncan, L. G., Coatsworth, J. D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009a). A model of mindful parenting: implications for parent-child relationships and prevention research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12, 255–270. doi:10.1007/s10567-009-0046-3.
Duncan, L. G., Coatsworth, J. D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009b). Pilot study to gauge acceptability of a mindfulness-based, family focused preventive intervention. Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 605–618. doi:10.1007/s10935-009-0185-9.
Duncan, L. G., Coatsworth, J. D., Gayles, J. G., Geier, M. H., & Greenberg, M. T. (2015). Can mindful parenting be observed? Relations between observational ratings of mother-youth interactions and mothers’ self-report of mindful parenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(2), 276–282. doi:10.1037/a0038857.
Fritz, M. S., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2007). Required sample size to detect the mediated effect. Psychological Science, 18, 233–239. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01882.x.
Geurtzen, N., Scholte, R. H., Engels, R. C., Tak, Y. R., & van Zundert, R. M. (2015). Association between mindful parenting and adolescents’ internalizing problems: non-judgmental acceptance of parenting as core element. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 1117–1128. doi:10.1007/s10826-014-9920-9.
Gilbert, P. (2005). Compassion and cruelty: a biopsychosocial approach. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: conceptualisations, research and use in psychotherapy (pp. 9–74). London: Routledge.
Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 6–41. doi:10.1111/bjc.12043.
Gilbert, P., & Procter, S. (2006). Compassionate mind training for people with high shame and self-criticism: a pilot study of a group therapy approach. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 13, 353–379. doi:10.1002/cpp.507.
Gregório, S., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2013). Mindful attention and awareness: relationships with psychopathology and emotion regulation. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 16. doi:10.1017/sjp.2013.79.
Grossman, M. (2006). Education and non-market outcomes. In E. Hanushek & F. Welch (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education (pp. 577–633). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Harnett, P. H., & Dawe, S. (2012). The contribution of mindfulness-based therapies for children and families and proposed conceptual integration. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 17, 195–208. doi:10.1111/j.1475-3588.2011.00643.x.
Haskett, M. E., Ahern, L. S., Ward, C. S., & Allaire, J. C. (2006). Factor structure and validity of the parenting stress index–short form. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35(2), 302–312. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp3502_14.
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion.
Kabat-Zinn, M., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1997). Everyday blessings: the inner work of mindful parenting. New York: Hyperion.
Lennon, R., & Eisenberg, N. (1987). Gender and age differences in empathy and sympathy. In N. Eisenberg & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 195–217). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lippold, M. A., Duncan, L. G., Coatsworth, J. D., Nix, R. L., & Greenberg, M. T. (2015). Understanding how mindful parenting may be linked to mother-adolescent communication. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 1663–1673. doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0325-x.
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: parent-child interaction. In P. H. Mussen, & E. M. Hetherington (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.
MacDonald, E. E., & Hastings, R. P. (2010). Mindful parenting and care involvement of fathers of children with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(2), 236–240. doi:10.1007/s10826-008-9243-9.
MacKillop, J., & Anderson, E. J. (2007). Further psychometric validation of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 29, 289–293. doi:10.1007/s10862-007-9045-1.
Miller, J. G., Kahle, S., Lopez, M., & Hastings, P. D. (2015). Compassionate love buffers stress-reactive mothers from fight-or-flight parenting. Developmental Psychology, 51, 36–43. doi:10.1037/a0038236.
Moreira, H., & Canavarro, M. C. (2015). The Portuguese version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale: a study with mothers and fathers from the general community. Unpublished manuscript.
Moreira, H., Carona, C., Silva, N., Nunes, J., & Canavarro, M.C. (2015). Exploring the link between maternal attachment‐related anxiety and avoidance and mindful parenting: the mediating role of self‐compassion. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/papt.12082.
Moreira, H., Gouveia, M. J., Carona, C., Silva, N., & Canavarro, M. C. (2015b). Maternal attachment and children’s quality of life: the mediating role of self-compassion and parenting stress. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 2332–2344. doi:10.1007/s10826-014-0036-z.
Neece, C. L. (2014). Mindfulness‐based stress reduction for parents of young children with developmental delays: implications for parental mental health and child behavior problems. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 27(2), 174–186. doi:10.1111/jar.12064.
Neff, K. D. (2003). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223–250. doi:10.1080/15298860309027.
Neff, K. D. (2009). Self-Compassion. In M. R. Leary & R. H. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 561–573). New York: Guilford Press.
Neff, K. D. (2011). Self-compassion: stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Neff, K. D. (2012). The science of self-compassion. In C. Germer & R. Siegel (Eds.), Compassion and wisdom in psychotherapy (pp. 79–92). New York: Guilford Press.
Neff, K. D., & Beretvas, S. N. (2013). The role of self-compassion in romantic relationships. Self and Identity, 12, 78–98. doi:10.1080/15298868.2011.639548.
Neff, K. D., & Faso, D. J. (2015). Self-compassion and well-being in parents of children with autism. Mindfulness, 6, 938–947. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0359-2.
Neff, K. D., Rude, S. S., & Kirkpatrick, K. (2007). An examination of self-compassion in relation to positive psychological functioning and personality traits. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 908���916. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.08.002.
Parent, J., McKee, L. G., Rough, J., & Forehand, R. (2016). The association of parent mindfulness with parenting and youth psychopathology across three developmental stages. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 191–202. doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9978-x.
Pinto Gouveia, J., & Castilho, P. (2011). Auto-compaixão: Estudo da validação da versão portuguesa da Escala da Auto-Compaixão e da sua relação com as experiências adversas na infância, a comparação social e a psicopatologia. Psychologica, 54, 203–230.
Robinson, M., & Neece, C. L. (2015). Marital satisfaction, parental stress, and child behavior problems among parents of young children with developmental delays. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 8, 23–46. doi:10.1080/19315864.2014.994247.
Robinson, C., Mandleco, B., Olsen, S., & Hart, C. (2001). The parenting styles and dimensions questionnaire (PSDQ). In B. Perlmutter, J. Touliatos, & G. Holden (Eds.), Handbook of family measurement techniques: instruments & index (Vol. 3, pp. 319–321). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Santos, S. V. (1997). Versão portuguesa do Parenting Stress Index (PSI): Validação preliminar. In M. Gonçalves, I. Ribeiro, S. Araújo, C. Machado, L. Almeida, & M. Simões (Eds.), Avaliação psicológica: Formas e contextos (Vol. 5, pp. 139–149). Braga: Associação dos Psicólogos Portugueses (APPORT).
Santos, S. V. (2008). Forma reduzida do Parenting Stress Index (PSISF): Estudo preliminar. In Poster session at the XIII Conferência Internacional Avaliação Formas e Contextos, Braga, Portugal.
Schaaijk, N. M., Roeleveld-Versteegh, A. B., & Baar, A. L. (2013). The interrelationships among paternal and maternal parenting stress, metabolic control, and depressive symptoms in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 38, 30–40. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jss096.
Singh, N.N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A.S.W., Fisher, B.C., Wahler, R.G., McAleavey, … & Sabaawi, M. (2006). Mindful parenting decreases aggression, noncompliance, and self-injury in children with autism. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 14, 169-177. doi:10.1177/10634266060140030401.
Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A. S. W., Singh, J., Curtis, W. J., Wahler, R. G., & McAleavey, K. M. (2007). Mindful parenting decreases aggression and increases social behavior in children with developmental disabilities. Behavior Modification, 31, 749–771. doi:10.1177/0145445507300924.
Singh, N. N., Singh, A. N., Lancioni, G. E., Singh, J., Winton, A. S. W., & Adkins, A. D. (2010). Mindfulness training for parents and their children with ADHD increases the children’s compliance. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 157–166. doi:10.1007/s10826-009-9272-z.
Streisand, R., Braniecki, S., Tercyak, K. P., & Kazak, A. E. (2001). Childhood illness-related parenting stress: the pediatric inventory for parents. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 26, 155–162. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/26.3.155.
Van de Weijer-Bergsma, E., Formsma, A. R., de Bruin, E. I., & Bögels, S. M. (2012). The effectiveness of mindfulness training on behavioral problems and attentional functioning in adolescents with ADHD and their parents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21, 775–787. doi:10.1007/s10826-011-9531-7.
Van der Oord, S., Bögels, S.M., & Peijnenburg, D. (2012). The effectiveness of mindfulness training for children with ADHD and mindful parenting for their parents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21, 139-147. doi:10.1007/s10826-011-9457-0
Webster-Stratton, C. (1990). Stress: a potential disruptor of parent perceptions and family interactions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 19, 302–312. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp1904_2.
Wille, D. E. (1995). The 1990s: gender differences in parenting. Sex Roles, 33, 803–817. doi:10.1007/BF01544780.
Williams, K. L., & Wahler, R. G. (2010). Are mindful parents more authoritative and less authoritarian? An analysis of clinic-referred mothers. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 230–235. doi:10.1007/s10826-009-9309-3.
Yarnell, L. M., & Neff, K. D. (2013). Self-compassion, interpersonal conflict resolutions, and well-being. Self and Identity, 12, 146–159. doi:10.1080/15298868.2011.649545.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under grants [ref. SFRH/BD/102722/2014; SFRH/BPD/70063/2010].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Funding
This study was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (grants number SFRH/BD/102722/2014 and SFRH/BPD/70063/2010).
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gouveia, M.J., Carona, C., Canavarro, M.C. et al. Self-Compassion and Dispositional Mindfulness Are Associated with Parenting Styles and Parenting Stress: the Mediating Role of Mindful Parenting. Mindfulness 7, 700–712 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0507-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0507-y