Mindful Parenting Programs in Non-clinical Contexts: A Qualitative Review of Child Outcomes and Programs, and Recommendations for Future Research

Abstract

Mindful parenting programs, providing mindfulness training for parents and caregivers, have been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Parents participating in these programs have reported benefits in emotional awareness, listening, and parent-child relationships at post-intervention. Considering that many mindful parenting programs aim to train parents generally, rather than specifically targeting parents of clinic-referred or diagnosed children, it is necessary to ascertain the impact of these programs in non-clinical, community samples. In the present qualitative review, databases were searched for studies that reported on children’s outcomes following mindful parenting programs for parents of typically developing children without clinical diagnoses. A synthesis of selected papers (n = 6) demonstrated promising but limited impact of mindful parenting programs on children’s psychosocial functioning. Differences emerged across programs in themes and mindfulness elements covered. Results demonstrate a need for more rigorous and multi-informant research on the preventative implications of mindful parenting programs in non-clinical contexts for child functioning.