title: Mindful Parenting Training in Child Psychiatric Settings: Heightened Parental Mindfulness Reduces Parents' and Children's Psychopathology.
abstract: Mindful parenting training is an application of mindfulness-based interventions that allows parents to perceive their children with unbiased and open attention without prejudgment and become more attentive and less reactive in their parenting. This study examined the effectiveness of mindful parenting training in a clinical setting on child and parental psychopathology and of mindfulness as a predictor of these outcomes. Seventy parents of 70 children (mean age = 8.7) who were referred to a mental health care clinic because of their children's psychopathology participated in an 8-week mindful parenting training. Parents completed questionnaires at pre-test, post-test and 8-week follow-up. A significant decrease was found in children's and parents' psychopathology and a significant increase in mindful parenting and in general mindful awareness. Improvement in general mindful awareness, but not mindful parenting, was found to predict a reduction in parental psychopathology, whereas improvement in mindful parenting, but not general mindful awareness, predicted the reduction of child psychopathology. This study adds to the emerging body of evidence indicating that mindful parenting training is effective for parents themselves and, indirectly, for their children suffering from psychopathology. As parents' increased mindful parenting, but not increased general mindfulness, is found to predict child psychopathology, mindful parenting training rather than general mindfulness training appears to be the training of choice. However, RCTs comparing mindful parenting to general mindfulness training and to parent management training are needed in order to shed more light on the effects of mindful parenting and mechanisms of change.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, Amsterdam, 1018 WS The Netherlands ; Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Renée
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1211-6628
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meppelink
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, Amsterdam, 1018 WS The Netherlands ; Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Esther I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: de Bruin
authors.affiliation: Accare, Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Femy H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Wanders-Mulder
authors.affiliation: Jeugd GGZ/Dimence, Outpatient Mental Health Care Center, Zutphen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Corinne J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Vennik
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, Amsterdam, 1018 WS The Netherlands ; Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; UvA minds, Academic Outpatient Child and Adolescent Treatment Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bögels
keywords: Child psychopathology; Mindful parenting; Parental psychopathology