Individual and gender differences in mindful parenting: The role of attachment and caregiving representations

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of caregiving representations in the association between attachment representations and mindful parenting. Additionally, this study explored differences between mothers and fathers in attachment and caregiving representations and in mindful parenting and tested whether the proposed model was invariant across genders. A sample of 439 parents (67% mothers) of school-aged children completed measures of attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, caregiving representations, and mindful parenting. Path analyses showed that attachment anxiety was associated with lower levels of mindful parenting through a lower perceived ability to recognize others' needs and more egoistic motivations to provide help. In turn, attachment avoidance was associated with lower levels of mindful parenting through a lower perceived ability to provide help and to evaluate others as worthy of help. The path model was invariant across genders, although fathers presented higher levels of avoidance, more egoistic motivations to provide help, lower perceived ability to recognize others' needs, and lower levels of mindful parenting than mothers. This study demonstrates that attachment representations play a critical role in parents' ability to be mindful in their relationship with their children, although through different caregiving pathways.