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Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev (2009) 12:255270
DOI 10.1007/s10567-009-0046-3
A Model of Mindful Parenting: Implications for ParentChild Relationships and Prevention Research
Larissa G. Duncan J. Douglas Coatsworth
Mark T. Greenberg
Published online: 2 May 2009 The Author(s) 2009. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract This paper introduces a model of mindful parenting as a framework whereby parents intentionally bring moment-to-moment awareness to the parentchild relationship. This is done by developing the qualities of listening with full attention when interacting with their children, cultivating emotional awareness and self-regulation in parenting, and bringing compassion and nonjudg-mental acceptance to their parenting interactions. First, we briey outline the theoretical and empirical literature on mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions. Next, we present an operational denition of mindful parenting as an extension of mindfulness to the social context of parentchild relationships. We discuss the implications of mindful parenting for the quality of parentchild relationships, particularly across the transition to adolescence, and we review the literature on the application of mindfulness in parenting interventions. We close with a synopsis of our own efforts to integrate mindfulness-based intervention techniques and mindful parenting into a well-established, evidence-based family prevention program and our recommendations for future research on mindful parenting interventions.
Keywords Parenting Mindfulness Family Prevention
Introduction
Mindful parenting has been described as a fundamental parenting skill or practice (Steinberg 2004; Kabat-Zinn and Kabat-Zinn 1997), and it has been proposed that fostering everyday mindfulness in the context of parenting and parent training is one avenue for improving the effectiveness of parenting interventions (Dumas 2005). However, empirical evidence on the role of mindfulness in parenting is sparse and a comprehensive model of mindful parenting has not yet been developed. The model of mindful parenting we offer extends the concepts and practices of mindfulness, dened here as the awareness that emerges through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment (Kabat-Zinn 2003, p. 145), to the social context of parentchild relationships. We draw from the theoretical and empirical literature on mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions to propose a model of mindful parenting that has novel implications for understanding healthy parentchild relationships and for improving family-focused preventive interventions. We illustrate our model with examples of how...