Despite findings demonstrating the importance of parental present-centered awareness, factors undermining mindful parenting have received less attention. Increasingly, evidence points to parental psychopathology as a salient risk factor for parenting difficulties. Thus, the goal of the present study was to investigate specific dimensions of parental trauma-related distress and general negative affectivity during pregnancy as predictors of mindful parenting during toddler age. Parental psychopathology, parent–infant bonding, and mindful parenting were assessed in a sample of heterosexual couples (N = 159) across four waves of data collection spanning pregnancy to child age two. Data were analyzed using path analysis within a dyadic framework. Results demonstrated the unique impact of maternal trauma-related distress during pregnancy (e.g., intrusions and avoidance) on facets of mindful parenting more than two years later. Further, among both mothers and fathers, general negative affectivity common across internalizing disorders undermined mindful parenting through impaired parent–infant bonding. Findings highlight the need for early intervention efforts that incorporate mindfulness strategies to reduce subthreshold symptoms of prenatal psychopathology, promote healthy bonding, and improve parental awareness and self-regulation, thereby enhancing the overall parent–child relationship.

The purpose of this study was to advance the current understanding of the daily dynamics that are involved in raising a child with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Specifically, we examined the role of mindful parenting and of day-to-day variation in parents’ psychological needs and child behavior in explaining day-to-day variation in parents’ autonomy-supportive, psychologically controlling, and responsive parenting behavior. Parents (N = 58) of children with CP (Mage = 12.68 years) participated in a 7-day diary study. Multilevel analyses indicated that parents’ autonomy-supportive, psychologically controlling, and responsive behaviors fluctuate considerably between days. Further, daily fluctuations in both child behavior and parents’ own psychological needs were found to be associated with this daily variability in parenting. In addition, interindividual differences in mindful parenting were associated positively with parents’ responsiveness and negatively with psychologically controlling parenting across the week. These findings point towards the changeability of parenting behavior among parents of a child with CP and suggest that interventions targeting parenting behavior in the context of CP will be most effective when taking into account both the parents’ and the child's functioning.

Mindfulness training was evaluated as a new treatment for attention and impulsivity problems in adolescents with a variety of different externalizing disorders: attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, oppositional-defiant and/or conduct disorder, and autism spectrum disorder if characterized by externalizing problem behaviour. It was argued that the large overlap between these three disorders may be partially explained by common underlying attention and behaviour control deficits. Fourteen clinically referred adolescents suffering from externalizing disorders followed mindfulness training in a group format. Parallel, their parents received mindful parenting training. Adolescents and their parents were measured before and after waitlist, after 8-week training, and at 8-week follow-up. No improvement occurred during waitlist on most variables. After mindfulness training, children self-reported substantial improvement on personal goals, internalizing and externalizing complaints, attention problems, happiness, and mindful awareness, and performed better on a sustained attention test. Likewise, parents reported improvement on children's goals, externalizing and attention problems, self-control, attunement to others and withdrawal. In addition, parents improved on their own goals. Improvement was maintained 8 weeks after the training. Consistent with mindfulness theory, increased child awareness after training predicted longer-term improvement in parent-rated child symptoms. Concomitant parent and child mindfulness training appears to be a promising approach for clinic-referred adolescents with attention and impulsivity problems.