Effectiveness of a Mindful Parenting Intervention

Parents participated in an 8-session mindfulness-based parenting intervention (MPI) and attended group sessions in-person at the Griffith University Psychology Clinic or online via videoconferencing (Zoom). The MPI was adapted from the manualised mindful parenting program (Bögels & Restifo, 2014) which is traditionally delivered in-person across eight weekly 3.5-hour group- sessions, including home-practice and a booster session. Adaptations included shortened session duration to aid parental engagement in the two formats. The in-person MPI consisted of eight weekly 2.5-hour long sessions, while the online MPI delivered eight 1.5-hour long sessions over 5 weeks. A 1.5-hour long booster session was offered 2 (online) or 3 months (in-person) after the end of the intervention. Overall, the in-person MPI duration was 40 hours, the online MPI duration was 32 hours. Session Content (as per Bögels & Restifo, 2014): Session 1: Automatic pilot parenting versus non-reactive parenting, doing versus being mode. Session and Home-Practice Exercises: Body scan, Child as a raisin, Mindful routine activity, Nurturing activity, Mindful first bite or sip. Session 2: Beginner’s mind parenting, expectations and interpretations, attitude of kindness. Session and Home-Practice Exercises: Body scan, Sitting meditation: Breath awareness, Mindful routine activity, Mindful routine activity with child, Savouring pleasant moments. Session 3: Reconnecting with the body as a parent during stressful parenting situations, recognising own limits, self-compassion when stress. Session and Home-Practice Exercises: Yoga (lying), Sitting meditation: breath + body, 3-min breathing space, Mindful activity with your child, Stressful moments log, Self-compassion break. Session 4: Responding versus reacting to parenting stress through awareness and acceptance. Session and Home-Practice Exercises: Yoga (standing), Sitting meditation: breath, body, sounds + thoughts, 3-min breathing space under stress, parenting stress calendar, Autobiography. Session 5: Parenting patterns and schemas, recognising patterns from own childhood, being with strong emotions, and recognising activated schema modes (angry and vulnerable child, punitive and demanding parent, versus healthy parent mode). Session and Home-Practice Exercises: Sitting meditation: breath, body, sounds, thoughts, + emotions, Walking meditation, 3-min breathing when child is misbehaving, Parental stress + schema mode recognition calendar. Silent Retreat: Deepening of mindfulness practices through guided meditation, yoga, eating and walking exercises in silence. (Attendance optional.) Home-Practice Exercises: Self-guided silent mindfulness day at home where attendance in-person not possible. Session 6: Conflict and parenting, perspective taking, rupture and repair, tuning into child’s emotional states. Session and Home-Practice Exercises: Own 40 min practice choice, Rupture and repair practice, 3-min breathing space when stressed. Session 7: Love, self-compassion and setting limits for self, child, and others. Home-Practice Exercises: Own 40 min practice choice, Write narrative, Mindful limit setting, Sitting meditation: Loving-kindness, Identify and bring in symbolic object. Session 8: Review and setting intentions for continued mindful parenting practice in the future. Home-Practice Exercises: Own practice choice. Booster session: Experiences and obstacles over past 2-3 months, and renewed intentions for practicing mindful parenting. (Attendance optional.) Home-Practice Exercises: Own practice choice Mode of delivery: All 8 sessions are delivered in groups (either in-person at the Psychology Clinic, or online via Zoom); involve group discussion and enquiries after experiential exercises, interactive activities (i.e., experiential exercises; mindfulness and mindful parenting practices), a short video on attention blindness, demonstrations and role-plays by/with the group facilitators. The online sessions were reduced from 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours. Otherwise, the session content remained the same. We did this by shortening several formal meditation practices, including body scans, sitting meditations, and yoga practices. We used Powerpoint slides to show session content on screen during sessions when relevant, and the Zoom “share screen” function as a whiteboard for parent input during group exercises, and the “breakout rooms” function for parents to work in small groups or pairs. For body scans, standing/walking meditation, and yoga some parents chose to turn off their camera during the practice. Apart from these changes, the online sessions were run as similarly as possible to the in-person sessions and the content remained the same as per the manualised program, including the presence of facilitators at all times. Parents were encouraged to act as if they were together in the same room with the facilitators and other group members. Parents were asked to find a private space for the sessions, where they could participate in meditation exercises and group discussions free from interruptions from other family members. Parents were asked to complete between 4 to 6 daily home-practices (approx. 1 hour per day) between sessions, including a facilitator-guided silent retreat or a self-guided mindfulness day at home. Parents received a workbook with information (adapted from a readily available source: information and handouts derived from the manualised program in Bögels & Restifo, 2014), worksheets and home-practice record logs, and a custom-made phone application (Kids in Mind app) with audio-recordings of practices. Sessions were audio (in-person) and/or video (online) recorded. Parents who missed a session were contacted by the facilitators via telephone and/or email to review key content and home-practices. Additionally, online participants received access to session recordings. Facilitators were instructed by one of the program developers (Susan Bögels), and completed a whole day (8 hours) MPP training workshop with her as well as several 1 to 2-hour supervision sessions during a week-long stay of Susan at the Gold Coast, Griffith University in December 2018 prior to recruitment of the first participants. Sessions were delivered by a lead-facilitator (clinical psychologist) who was a trained mindfulness teacher, supported by a co-facilitator (doctoral-level psychologist in clinical training); both had established mindfulness and yoga practice over 10 to 15 years. Session recordings and intervention progress were reviewed in supervision with a clinical psychologist who was a trained and experienced mindfulness teacher and MPI facilitator.