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Mindful Parenting Assessed in Mainland China: Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale

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Abstract

Objectives

The Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale is a 31-item self-report measure to assess mindful parenting, and has been revised into a Dutch, Portuguese, and Hong Kong version. The aim of this research was to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting scale (IM-P-C) in Mainland China.

Methods

The Chinese version was translated from the original English version in the preliminary study. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and measurement invariance analysis across gender, test-retest reliability were examined consecutively in study 1 (n = 183), 2 (n = 294), and 3 (n = 48). In study 4, its factor structure was examined in a clinical sample (n = 288).

Results

A four-factor structure was found in study 1 and the scale scores showed adequate internal consistency. The four-factor structure was confirmed with a new sample in study 2. Measurement invariance analysis across gender suggested that both fathers and mothers interpreted the IM-P-C in a similar manner. Significant correlations were found between the IM-P-C and measures of over-reactivity, parental warmth, anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, and dispositional mindfulness. In study 3, results exhibited temporal stability over a period of 2 weeks. In study 4, the IM-P-C was validated in parents of children with autism.

Conclusions

The present research demonstrated that mindful parenting in a Chinese population can be measured through the assessment of four dimensions (Interacting with Full Attention, Compassion and Acceptance, Self-regulation in Parenting, Emotional Awareness of Child) and confirmed that the Chinese version is an adequate measure for the studies of mindful parenting in Mainland China.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Coatsworth for providing the original English version of IM-P. The authors would like to thank Dr. Yi Li for helping recruiting the participants of parents of children with autism.

Funding

This work was funded by MOE (Ministry of Education) Project of Humanities and Social Science (16YJCZH107), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11301555, 31700961), and Fundamental Research for the Central Universities (17wkzd18).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

      Junhao Pan, Yiying Liang, Hui Zhou & Yuyin Wang

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    1. Junhao Pan
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    2. Yiying Liang
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    Junhao Pan and Yiying Liang are the co-first authors and contributed equally to this work.

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    Correspondence to Yuyin Wang.

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    Pan, J., Liang, Y., Zhou, H. et al. Mindful Parenting Assessed in Mainland China: Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale. Mindfulness 10, 1629–1641 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01122-w

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