Mindful Parenting and Parenting Practices in Chinese Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

ObjectivesParenting children with autism spectrum disorder may be different from parenting typically developing children. The current study systematically compared mindful parenting and parenting practices in families of children with autism spectrum disorder and in families of typically developing children in China.Methods167 biological parents (Mage = 37.87) of Chinese children with autism spectrum disorder and 167 biological parents (Mage = 38.04) of typical developing children completed questionnaires regarding mindful parenting and parenting practices. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to compare between the two types of families with parent/child gender effects on mindful parenting and parenting practices. Then a series of path analyses were also conducted to examine the associations between mindful parenting and parenting practices in the two types of families.ResultsCompared to parents of typically developing children, parents of children with autism spectrum disorder showed less listening with full attention, less proactive parenting, less supportiveness, more lax control, and more physical control to their children; in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (but not in families of typically developing children), fathers showed less proactive parenting and supportiveness to their children than mothers. We also found that parents’ listening with full attention and awareness of children’s emotions were significantly related to both positive and negative parenting practices in families of children with autism spectrum disorder.ConclusionsChinese parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and parents of typically developing children display different parenting behaviors. These findings can provide us more future directions in studying parenting behaviors in Chinese families of children with autism spectrum disorder.