Unfolding Relations Among Mindful Parenting, Recurrent Conflict, and Adolescent Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

PRESENTATION TYPE: Individual Poster

CATEGORY/THEME: Etiology

TITLE: Unfolding Relations among Mindful Parenting, Recurrent Conflict, and

Adolescent Externalizing and Internalizing Problems

ABSTRACT BODY:

Introduction: Mindful parenting, which involves attending to present parent-child interactions in an open and nonjudgmental way, is found to be a positive influence on parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent well-being (Parent, McKee, Rough, & Forehand, 2016). When parents engage in mindful parenting, and therefore exhibit more sensitive parenting practices and fewer coercive parenting practices, parents may be able to establish better relationships with their adolescents. Although some parent-child conflict is natural during adolescence, recurrent and unsolved conflicts can impose intense stress on adolescents which may lead them to exhibit more problem behaviors, undermine their sense of worth and increase depressive symptoms. Being more mindful can help parents to inhibit negative responses and better negotiate with adolescents as they assume greater independence in their lives, thus reducing unnecessary parent-adolescent conflicts. The present study examines the role of mindful parenting in preventing dysfunctional family interactions and the exacerbation of serious behavior problems at one of the most important inflection points in development, the beginning of adolescence.

Methods: The study involves secondary analysis of data from the Mindfulness-Enhanced Strengthening Families Program (Coatsworth et al., 2015). Only the control group families are included in this study (N = 117). About 31% of the families were Black or Latino, and about 74% of families included two parents. Median annual family income was about $55,732. Most adolescents were about 12 at the beginning of the 16-month longitudinal study. Parents reported on mindful parenting and recurrent conflict and adolescents reported on their own externalizing and internalizing problems.

Results: Path analyses demonstrated that mothers’ mindful parenting at Time 1 predicted lower rates of recurrent conflict four months later, controlling for levels of recurrent conflict at Time 1 (β = -.28, p = .001). Recurrent conflict at Time 2 predicted adolescent externalizing problems one year later, controlling for Time 2 adolescent externalizing problems (β = .35, p = .003). Recurrent conflict at Time 2 also predicted adolescent internalizing problems one year later, controlling for Time 2 adolescent internalizing problems (β = .26, p = .06). Multiple-group analyses to examine moderation revealed that all relations among mindful parenting, recurrent conflict, and adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems were comparable across subgroups defined by family race, parent marital status, and adolescent gender.

Conclusions: The study highlights the potential relevance of mindful parenting to prevention science. Mindful parenting may function as an important family-level protective mechanism by reducing levels of recurrent conflict and thereby reducing the likelihood of more serious behavior problems at the beginning of adolescence.