Mindful parenting is positively associated with adolescents’ life satisfaction: The mediating role of adolescents’ coping self-efficacy

Abstract

Studies have demonstrated that life satisfaction has a large impact on adolescents’ development. However, adolescence is a period with extensive challenges and stressors that may threaten adolescents’ life satisfaction if they cope with them ineffectively. The current study investigated the effect of mindful parenting on adolescents’ life satisfaction and the mediating role of adolescents’ coping self-efficacy. The participants included 479 parent-adolescent dyads. Data on both parents’ self-reported mindful parenting and adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ mindful parenting were collected and combined to estimate levels of mindful parenting. The results indicated that mindful parenting is positively associated with adolescents’ life satisfaction and that adolescents’ coping self-efficacy mediates this relationship. Specifically, higher levels of mindful parenting are linked with higher levels of adolescents’ coping self-efficacy, which is in turn positively associated with adolescents’ life satisfaction. These findings shed light on the importance of mindful parenting for adolescents’ healthy development. The theoretical and practical implications of the current study results as well as future research directions are discussed.