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Cultivating Mind: Mindfulness Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Problem Behaviours, and Their Mothers

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Abstract

Problem behaviours in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are a major source of parenting stress, as they restrict family capacity to maintain quality domestic and social life. It is therefore critical to support parents to manage the problem behaviours of their child with ASD. Recent mindfulness intervention studies have successfully addressed this issue. The current pilot study pursues this line of enquiry and extends the scope of mindfulness intervention by training parents to become a mindfulness teacher of their own child with ASD and problem behaviours, so together they can work on enhancing the quality of their domestic and social life. A total of six dyads of mothers (CA range 34–48 years) and children with ASD and problem behaviours (CA range 8–15 years) participated in a two-stage mindfulness intervention. Mothers attended an 8-week mindfulness program to attain fluency in the theory and practice of mindfulness meditation (Stage 1). Based on this fluency they then taught mindfulness activities to their child (Stage 2). This paper reports on the effects of the mindfulness intervention provided for mothers (Stage 1) and children (Stage 2) as demonstrated by the level of mindfulness, parenting stress, and family quality of life for mothers, and problem behaviours for children. The results highlight overall improvements in the targeted areas. Some benefits, issues, and challenges of mindfulness training for parents and their children with ASD are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Road, Mt Gravatt, QLD, 4122, Australia

    Yoon-Suk Hwang, Helen Klieve, Wayne Lang & Jacqueline Roberts

  2. Independent Mindfulness Teacher, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Patrick Kearney

Authors
  1. Yoon-Suk Hwang
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  2. Patrick Kearney
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  3. Helen Klieve
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  4. Wayne Lang
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  5. Jacqueline Roberts
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoon-Suk Hwang.

Appendix: Weekly Content and Activities of the Parent Mindfulness Program

Appendix: Weekly Content and Activities of the Parent Mindfulness Program

Weekly theme

Topics and activities

Reading

1. Introducing mindfulness

Pre-training exercises

What is mindfulness?

What is meditation?

Loosening and relaxing

Meditation posture

Overview of mindfulness intervention

Introducing mindfulness

2. Serenity and insight

Concepts of serenity and insight

Loosening and relaxing

Structuring attention

Relationships to the meditation object

Meditation on elements

Serenity and insight

3. Tracking breathing

Concept of dharma

Loosening and relaxing

Breathing as a meditation object

Walking meditation

Discerning element

4. Tracking feeling

Concept of vedanā (“feeling”)

Loosening and relaxing

Exploring “watching” and “feeling”

Clear understanding on feeling

5. Tracking the thought-stream

Using thinking as a meditation object

Loosening and relaxing

Practising mindfulness in movement

The Thought-stream

6. The sublime states

Introducing the sublime states (brahmā vihāra) and meditation to cultivate them

Loosening and relaxing

The Sublime states

7. Finding the balance

Clear understanding and its role in meditation

Cultivating reflexive awareness

Refining meditation by balancing the mental factors of right energy (vāyāma), mindfulness (sati) and unification (samādhi)

Finding the balance

8. The four truths

Four truths (cattāro ariya-saccāni) as a framework for understanding the nature of practice

Loosening and relaxing

Learning to communicate practice experience

Plans for the future of the project

The four truths

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Hwang, YS., Kearney, P., Klieve, H. et al. Cultivating Mind: Mindfulness Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Problem Behaviours, and Their Mothers. J Child Fam Stud 24, 3093–3106 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0114-x

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