Abstract
Objectives
The present study examined the longitudinal impact of mindful parenting on child internalizing and externalizing symptoms in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and explored the potential mechanisms underlying this impact. We hypothesized that mindful parenting would be longitudinally associated with decrements in child internalizing and externalizing symptoms and these associations would be mediated by increased parent–child closeness and reduced parent–child conflict.
Methods
Data were collected from 441 parents of children with ASD in three waves (W1, W2, W3) over 2 years. Measures included mindful parenting, parent–child closeness and conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
Results
Path analyses showed that, when demographic factors and autoregressive effects were controlled, mindful parenting at W1 had significant direct effects on parent–child closeness and conflict at W2. While parent–child closeness at W2 had non-significant direct effects on child internalizing and externalizing symptoms at W3, parent–child conflict at W2 had significant direct effects on child internalizing and externalizing symptoms at W3. Bootstrap analyses further showed that mindful parenting at W1 had significant indirect effects on child internalizing and externalizing symptoms at W3 through parent–child conflict at W2.
Conclusions
Our findings reveal the longitudinal impact of mindful parenting on child psychopathology. In particular, our findings indicate that mindful parenting is associated with lower levels of child internalizing and externalizing symptoms through lower levels of maladaptive parent–child interactions.
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Data Availability
Data used in this study are available at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/zn326/).
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Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following ASD support centers and special schools (in alphabetical order) for facilitating us in recruiting eligible participants from their service users: Buddhist To Chi Fat She Yeung Yat Lam Memorial School; Caritas Lok Jun School; Caritas Lok Kan School; Caritas Resurrection School; Choi Jun School; Church of Christ in China Kei Shun Special School; Haven of Hope Sunnyside School; HHCKLA Buddhist Po Kwong School; Hong Chi Lions Morninghill School; Hong Chi Morninglight School, Yuen Long; Hong Chi Pinehill No.2 School; Rotary Club of HK Island West Hong Chi Morninghope School; The Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong; The Mental Health Association of Hong Kong Cornwall School; The Parents Association of Autistic Children in Mainstream Education; The Parents’ Association of Pre-School Handicapped Children; Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Tsui Tsin Tong School; and Yuk Chi Resource Centre.
Funding
This study was supported by the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (Project Number: 18611621).
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KKSC designed and executed the study, analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote and revised the paper. ZW and HL collaborated in writing and revising the paper.
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This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of The Education University of Hong Kong.
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Chan, K.K.S., Wang, Z. & Li, H. Longitudinal Impact of Mindful Parenting on Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Mindfulness 13, 1984–1993 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01933-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01933-4