Mindful parenting decreases aggression and increases social behavior in children with developmental disabilities.
Research shows that after training in the philosophy and practice of mindfulness, parents can mindfully attend to the challenging behaviors of their children with autism. Parents also report an increased satisfaction with their parenting skills and social interactions with their children. These findings were replicated and extended with 4 parents of children who had developmental disabilities, exhibited aggressive behavior, and had limited social skills. After mindfulness training, the parents were able to decrease aggressive behavior and increase their children's social skills. They also reported a greater practice of mindfulness, increased satisfaction with their parenting, more social interactions with their children, and lower parenting stress. Furthermore, the children showed increased positive and decreased negative social interactions with their siblings. We speculate that mindfulness produces transformational change in the parents that is reflected in enhanced positive behavioral transactions with their children.
Singh
Nirbhay N
NN
ONE Research Institute, Chesterfield, Virginia. nirbsingh52@aol.com
Lancioni
Giulio E
GE
Winton
Alan S W
AS
Singh
Judy
J
Curtis
W John
WJ
Wahler
Robert G
RG
McAleavey
Kristen M
KM
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D012801:Sibling Relations; D012919:Social Behavior; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*