Mindful Parenting: The Determinants And Behavioral Changes

Mindful parenting has been gaining interest as it has proven to be effective in restoring and safeguarding the well-being of parents and children. Yet, little is known about the exact parenting behaviors associated with mindful parenting. There is also little research on the psychosocial determinants of mindful parenting. In this presentation, we report a study which aimed to (1) explore the relationship between mindful parenting and intensive parenting behaviors, and (2) examine the psychosocial determinants of mindful parenting using the revised process of parenting model (Taraban & Shaw, 2018). Two hundred and three Hong Kong Chinese mothers raising a 6- to 10-year-old child participated in this survey research. Our results showed that mindful parenting is negatively related to mothers’ tendency to take over tasks for children and prioritize children’s needs over theirs. Mindful parenting is positively related to mother’s regulation of child’s behaviors and monitoring the child’s relationships with peers. Further analyses showed that mindful parenting is indirectly connected to intensive parenting behaviors through maternal worry; these behaviors include parental academic and extra-curricular activities pressure, parental over-protection, and psychological control of child. Child’s temperament, and mother’s work status and subjective SES were found to significantly predict adoption of mindful parenting. These results and their implications to our understanding of parental socialization of children in the Hong Kong Chinese context will be discussed.