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The Association of Parent Mindfulness with Parenting and Youth Psychopathology Across Three Developmental Stages

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology volume 44, pages 191–202 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

The primary purpose of the current study was to test a model examining the process by which parent dispositional mindfulness relates to youth psychopathology through mindful parenting and parenting practices. The universality of the model across youth at three developmental stages was examined: young childhood (3–7 years; n = 210), middle childhood (8–12 years; n = 200), and adolescence (13–17 years; n = 205). Overall, participants were 615 parents (55 % female) and one of their 3-to-17 year old children (45 % female). Parents reported on their dispositional mindfulness, mindful parenting, positive and negative parenting practices and their child’s or adolescent’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Consistent findings across all three developmental stages indicated that higher levels of parent dispositional mindfulness were indirectly related to lower levels of youth internalizing and externalizing problems through higher levels of mindful parenting and lower levels of negative parenting practices. Replication of these findings across families with children at different developmental stages lends support to the generalizability of the model.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Child and Adolescent Psychology Training and Research, Inc (CAPTR). Rex Forehand is supported by R01MH100377 and Justin Parent is supported by NICHD RO1HD064723.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Justin Parent, Jennifer N. Rough & Rex Forehand

  2. Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA

    Laura G. McKee

  3. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Laura G. McKee

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  1. Justin Parent
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  2. Laura G. McKee
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Correspondence to Justin Parent.

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Parent, J., McKee, L.G., N. Rough, J. et al. The Association of Parent Mindfulness with Parenting and Youth Psychopathology Across Three Developmental Stages. J Abnorm Child Psychol 44, 191–202 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-9978-x

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Keywords

  • Mindfulness
  • Mindful parenting
  • Parenting
  • Child internalizing
  • Child externalizing