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Mindfulness In Parenting Questionnaire (MIPQ): Development and Validation of a Measure of Mindful Parenting

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a measure of mindful parenting (the Mindfulness In Parenting Questionnaire (MIPQ)) for use with parents of children and adolescents, ranging in age from 2- to 16-years-old. Content experts assisted in item development, and cognitive interviewing was used to revise the measure. Parents (N = 203) completed the preliminary MIPQ along with measures of parenting style, parenting practices, and mindfulness. The contemporary psychometrics approach known as the item response theory (IRT) was used to evaluate the MIPQ. Results yielded two dimensions, each of which was measured optimally using the partial credit model. The two dimensions, mindful discipline and being in the moment with the child, explained 42.3 and 43.4 % of the variance, respectively. Correlations between the MIPQ and parenting style, parenting practices, practice of mindfulness, and participant demographics provided support for construct validity. The MIPQ exhibited a positive and weak correlation with the MAAS, indicating that interpersonal and intrapersonal mindfulness are related yet separate and distinct constructs. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33314, USA

    Stacey McCaffrey, David Reitman & Ryan Black

Authors
  1. Stacey McCaffrey
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  2. David Reitman
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  3. Ryan Black
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Reitman.

Ethics declarations

None of the study authors declared any conflicts of interest, nor was any outside funding used to produce this research. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of Nova Southeastern University and approved by its IRB in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study.

Appendices

Appendix A

Mindfulness in parenting questionnaire

Please reflect on your parenting and interactions with your child over the last 2 weeks. Read each question carefully, and consider whether this item is true for you infrequently (1), sometimes (2), often (3), or almost always (4). Try your best to answer each question.

Table 4 ᅟ
Full size table

Appendix B

MIPQ scoring guide

Scoring

Step 1

Add up the items that compose factor 1, mindful discipline

14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 + 28 = factor 1 raw total

Add up the items that compose Factor 2, being in the moment with the child

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 = factor 2 raw total

Step 2

Use the conversion table below to convert the raw score for both MIPQ factors into standard scores. These standard scores were created by first converting the Rasch scores to standardized scores (z-scores, M = 0, SD = 1), and then converting z-scores to standard scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Standard scores between 90 and 110 fall within the average range, with higher scores indicating greater levels of mindful parenting.

It should be noted that in order to score the MIPQ, each of the 28 items must be completed, and incomplete MIPQs are not interpretable.

Please contact the authors for more information about scoring and interpretation.

Table 5 Raw score to standard score conversion
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McCaffrey, S., Reitman, D. & Black, R. Mindfulness In Parenting Questionnaire (MIPQ): Development and Validation of a Measure of Mindful Parenting. Mindfulness 8, 232–246 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0596-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0596-7

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