Adolesence

Reduce Adolescent Risk Taking with Mindful Parenting

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Reduce Adolescent Risk Taking with Mindful Parenting

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“To bring mindful attention and awareness into your interactions with your child really seems to set the stage for you to be a good parent.” – Justin Parent

 

Raising children, parenting, is very rewarding. But, it can also be challenging, especially with adolescents. Teens test parents frequently. They test the boundaries of their freedom and the depth of parental love. They demand attention and seem to especially when parental attention is needed elsewhere. They don’t always conform to parental dictates or aspirations for their behavior. They are often affected more by peers, for good or evil, than by parents. It is the parents challenge to control themselves, not overreact, and act appropriately in the face of strong emotions. Meeting these challenges becomes more and more important with adolescents, as here are the greatest struggles for independence and the potential for damaging behaviors, particularly, alcohol, drugs, and sexual behavior.

 

The challenges of parenting require that the parent be able to deal with stress, to regulate their own emotions, and to be sensitive and attentive to their child. These skills are exactly those that are developed in mindfulness training. It improves the psychological and physiological responses to stress. It improves emotion regulation. And it improves the ability to maintain attention and focus in the face of high levels of distraction. Mindful parenting involves having emotional awareness of themselves but also having emotional awareness of and compassion for the child and having the skills to pay full attention to the child in the present moment, to accept parenting non-judgmentally and be emotionally non-reactive to the child.

 

It is not known how mindful parenting acts to improve adolescent behavior. But, it seems reasonable to postulate that mindful parenting alters parental emotional responses, particularly during parent-child conflict, and this affects the child’s behavior. In today’s Research News article “Mindful Parenting and Parents’ Emotion Expression: Effects on Adolescent Risk Behaviors.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827929/

Tupyn and Chaplin recruited adolescents, aged 12-14 years, and their primary caregiver. Both parents and adolescents completed a family issues questionnaire, including points of conflict, and were assessed for cognitive and emotional functioning, psychological symptoms, and alcohol and substance use as well as breath and urine drug screens. Parents were measured for mindful parenting. Adolescents were assessed for risk behaviors, including substance abuse and sexual risk taking. They then completed a parent-adolescent interaction task in which they discussed the topic which they both identified as the most contentious occurring over the last month. During the discussion, parents were videoed and their emotional expressions rated.

 

They found that higher levels of mindful parenting were associated with lower levels of drug use and sexual engagement. They also found that higher levels of mindful parenting was associated with less parental negative emotion expression in the conflict interaction. In addition, they found that mindful parenting was associated with lower adolescent drug use directly and indirectly by decreasing negative emotion expression in the conflict interaction. Hence, mindful parenting appears to be helpful in lessening the likelihood that adolescents will engage in risky behaviors.

 

These are interesting results and suggest that mindful parenting helps the parent deal with conflict with their adolescents more adaptively and with fewer negative emotions expressed. This, in turn, is associated with lower adolescent drug use. There are three key factors to mindful parenting, noticing feelings when in conflict with the child, learning to pause before responding in anger, and listening carefully to a child’s viewpoint even when disagreeing with it. The mindful parent’s ability to notice feelings when in conflict appears to contribute to its association with lower drug use, producing an indirect effect. It is possible that the ability to delay responding and listen carefully may be responsible for the obtained direct effect of mindful parenting on risky behavior. Regardless of the explanation, the result suggest that mindful parents have adolescents who have fewer risk behaviors.

 

So, reduce adolescent risk taking with mindful parenting.

 

“encouraging more mindful, responsive parenting—and less harsh punishments or yelling—may indirectly help kids to avoid some of the risks of adolescence, such as depression, anxiety, acting out, and drug use. “ – Jill Suttie

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Turpyn, C. C., & Chaplin, T. M. (2016). Mindful Parenting and Parents’ Emotion Expression: Effects on Adolescent Risk Behaviors. Mindfulness, 7(1), 246–254. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0440-5

 

Abstract

Mindful parenting is associated with greater adjustment and fewer behavior problems in children and adolescents. However, the mechanisms by which mindful parenting functions to mitigate risk in adolescence is not well understood. This study investigated parent emotional expression as a potential mechanism in the relationship between low mindful parenting and adolescent risk behaviors. A sample of 157 12-14 year old adolescents (49% female) and their primary caregivers (99% female) participated in an emotionally-arousing conflict interaction. Parents reported on their mindful parenting practices, and parents’ emotion expressions during the conflict interaction were coded including negative emotion, positive emotion, and shared parent-youth positive emotion. Adolescent substance use and sex behaviors were assessed through self-report, interview, and physical toxicology screens. Results indicated that mindful parenting was associated with less parental negative emotion and greater shared positive emotion during the parent-adolescent conflict. Further, results revealed a significant indirect effect of mindful parenting on youth’s substance use through shared parent-adolescent positive emotion. Findings highlight the relevance of emotional functioning in the context of stressful parenting situations in mindful parenting.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827929/

 

 

Reduce Youth Dissociative Disorders with Mindfulness

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Reduce Youth Dissociative Disorders with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It sounds elementary, I know. But that’s the beauty of it. Rather than wasting energy fighting dissociation, we can decrease its severity simply by increasing awareness.” – Holly Gray

 

Sometime during the lives of about 2% of the population, a Dissociative Disorder occurs. It is more likely in women than in men and is most frequently triggered by a traumatic event. Dissociative Disorders involve an involuntary escape from reality characterized by a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness and memory. These can include significant memory loss of specific times, people and events, out-of-body experiences, such as feeling as though you are watching a movie of yourself, mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide, a sense of detachment from emotions, or emotional numbness, and a lack of a sense of self-identity.

 

There are three kinds of diagnosed Dissociative Disorders, Dissociative Amnesia, Depersonalization disorder, and Dissociative identity disorder (aka multiple personalities). These disorders are thought to be coping mechanisms for intense stress. They are generally treated with drugs, particularly antidepressants, and with psychotherapies including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Mindfulness training has been found to be effective in treating a myriad of mental and physical disorders and particularly with stress related disorders. It has also been shown to be effective with trauma reactions including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). So, it makes sense to test the effectiveness of mindfulness training in treating Dissociative Disorders.

 

In today’s Research News article “Role of mindfulness in Dissociative Disorders among adolescents.” See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5100126/

Sharma and colleagues recruited a small sample of adolescents (average age = 13 and 86% female) who were diagnosed with a Dissociative Disorder. They were provided 6 weekly sessions of mindfulness training based upon the Mindfulness-Based Stress reduction (MBSR) program and encouragement to practice at home. The treatment included both sitting and walking meditation, body scan, yoga, and mindful eating practices. They were measured for dissociative experiences and mindfulness, before treatment, 3 weeks into treatment, and immediately after treatment.

 

They found that the treatment produced a significant, 54% decrease in dissociative symptoms and a 25% increase in mindfulness. The increase in mindfulness would be expected, given the extensive literature demonstrating increases in mindfulness produced by MBSR training. The decrease in dissociative symptoms is, to our knowledge, unprecedented. It is reasonable though given the demonstrated ability of mindfulness training to improve present moment awareness and decrease mind wandering. Attending to what is happening in the present moment would tend to counteract tendencies to drift away from reality.

 

These are potentially important results but should be looked upon as a pilot, proof of concept study. There was no control condition and the sample was small and confined to young adolescents, primarily girls. The results, though, provide a strong rationale to implement a large scale randomized controlled clinical trial. This could provide evidence that mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for dissociative disorders.

 

“Having a daily mindfulness practice allows you to reach trauma, implicit memories and a way of integrating your childhood abuse. You start with neutral judgements and work towards emotional charged memories. You can heal much quicker than you believe. It takes daily work strengthening your focus on the breath. It seems mundane to focus on the breath but the breath controls the nervous system and allows us to reach our trauma quickly and decisively.” – Marty

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

Sharma, T., Sinha, V. K., & Sayeed, N. (2016). Role of mindfulness in dissociative disorders among adolescents. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 58(3), 326–328. http://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.192013

 

Abstract

Context: Dissociation is understood as maladaptive coping and is common in children and adolescents. Treatment outcome studies show improvement in comorbid conditions suggesting the need to implement programs that target dissociative pathology.

Aim: To study the effect of practicing mindfulness among adolescents diagnosed with dissociative disorders.

Settings and Design: It was a hospital-based repeated measures design.

Materials and Methods: 7 adolescents participated in a mindfulness-based therapeutic program for 6 weeks.

Statistical Analysis: Scores were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Friedman test was used to assess significance of the difference in scores at various assessment phases. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for post hoc analysis.

Results: Participants were mostly female adolescents from rural, Eastern India. There was a significant reduction in dissociative experiences and significant improvement in mindfulness.

Conclusions: Incorporating mindfulness in clinical practice may prove effective in reducing dissociation and promoting adaptive functioning.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5100126/

 

Help Headaches in Adolescents with Mindfulness

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness meditation is proving to be of significant help in not only reducing migraines or chronic pain, but improvements in mood, outlook on life and illness, increased coping skills, enhanced sense of well-being, changes in perception of pain, higher tolerance of pain, enhanced immune function, less fatigue and stress and better sleep.” – Cynthia Perkins

 

Headaches are the most common disorders of the nervous system. It has been estimated that 47% of the adult population have a headache at least once during the last year. There are a wide variety of drugs that are prescribed for chronic headache pain with varying success. Headaches are treated with pain relievers, ergotamine, blood pressure drugs such as propranolol, verapamil, antidepressants, antiseizure drugs, and muscle relaxants. Drugs, however, can have some problematic side effects particularly when used regularly and are ineffective for many sufferers. So, almost all practitioners consider lifestyle changes that help control stress and promote regular exercise to be an important part of headache treatment and prevention. Avoiding situations that trigger headaches is also vital.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be an effective treatment for headache pain in adults. It is not known whether it is also effective for adolescents. Yet, 60% of children and adolescents report headaches, with 20% having frequent or severe headaches. In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Adolescents with Recurrent Headaches: A Pilot Feasibility Study.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1415631915127397/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700163/

Hesse and colleagues study the effectiveness of mindfulness training for recurrent headaches in adolescents. They recruited adolescent females with recurrent headaches. The teens received group mindfulness training once a week for 1 to 1.5 hours for 12 weeks. Before and after training the adolescents recorded their mindfulness practices and headaches, and completed scales measuring headache-related disability, anxiety, depression, and quality of life, while their parents also completed a report of the teens’ quality of life.

 

They found that mindfulness training did not produce any changes in the frequency or severity of headaches, headache-related disability, or anxiety, but a significant reduction in depression and an improvement in acceptance of headache pain. The parents reported that the adolescents had improved physical quality of life. Hence, mindfulness training improved the teen’s depression, quality of life, and acceptance of pain but not the headaches themselves. These are encouraging results that need to be followed up with a large randomized controlled clinical trial. But, they suggest that mindfulness training may be a useful treatment for headache pain in adolescents.

 

Mindfulness practices may be helpful with headache pain by focusing attention on the present moment. This has been shown to reduce worry and catastrophizing which, in turn, reduces depression. Pain is increased by worry about the pain and the expectation of greater pain in the future. So, reducing worry and catastrophizing can reduce headache pain. Mindfulness teaches the individual to view pain as a present moment experience that can be experienced just as it is and accept it. As a result, the individual accepts the pain and stops fighting against it, which can amplify the pain.

 

So, help headaches in adolescents with mindfulness.

 

“Years of research and clinical experience demonstrate that behavioral medicine methods can have a powerful effect on pain, especially when used in conjunction with medical treatment. Behavioral medicine examines and trains an individual to become aware of the power of the mind and emotions on physical health. One potent method for recovering health is meditation.” – Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Hesse, T., Holmes, L. G., Kennedy-Overfelt, V., Kerr, L. M., & Giles, L. L. (2015). Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Adolescents with Recurrent Headaches: A Pilot Feasibility Study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM, 2015, 508958. http://doi.org/10.1155/2015/508958

 

Abstract

Recurrent headaches cause significant burden for adolescents and their families. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to reduce stress and alter the experience of pain, reduce pain burden, and improve quality of life. Research indicates that MBIs can benefit adults with chronic pain conditions including headaches. A pilot nonrandomized clinical trial was conducted with 20 adolescent females with recurrent headaches. Median class attendance was 7 of 8 total sessions; average class attendance was 6.10 ± 2.6. Adherence to home practice was good, with participants reporting an average of 4.69 (SD = 1.84) of 6 practices per week. Five participants dropped out for reasons not inherent to the group (e.g., extracurricular scheduling); no adverse events were reported. Parents reported improved quality of life and physical functioning for their child. Adolescent participants reported improved depression symptoms and improved ability to accept their pain rather than trying to control it. MBIs appear safe and feasible for adolescents with recurrent headaches. Although participants did not report decreased frequency or severity of headache following treatment, the treatment had a beneficial effect for depression, quality of life, and acceptance of pain and represents a promising adjunct treatment for adolescents with recurrent headaches.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700163/

 

Mindfulness is Associated with Less On-Line Reduce Dating Violence

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The ability to restrain oneself from acting on aggressive impulses is arguably a crucial aspect of human functioning and interaction. Yet growing evidence in the literature suggests that people’s self-control resources may be limited and, at times, self-controlled regulation could even increase the association between aggressive triggers and aggressive behaviour. As an alternative, mindfulness practices encourage individuals to be aware and accept their aggression-related thoughts and emotions simply as an ephemeral state rather than to control them.“ – Cleoputri Yusainy

 

Dating should be a time for young people to get together, get to know one another and have fun. But all too often, dating involves violence or aggression. Nearly 1.5 million high school students in the U.S. experience physical abuse from a dating partner each year, 33% are victims of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, and 10% have been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt. Dating violence doesn’t just occur in High School as 43% of college women experience violent or abusive dating behaviors. The abuse often occurs on-line as 36% of college students have given a dating partner their computer, email or social network passwords and these students are more likely to experience digital dating abuse sometimes called technology-delivered dating aggression (TDA). Sadly, only about a third of the victims ever tell anyone about the abuse.

 

Compounding the problem youth who experience dating violence are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, abuse tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, and consider suicide. Hence it is important to find ways to prevent dating violence. A first step is to investigate the factors that may be predictive of dating aggression and conversely of safe dating. This could lead to methods to better address the problem. In today’s Research News article “Technology-Delivered Dating Aggression: Risk and Promotive Factors and Patterns of Associations Across Violence Types Among High-Risk Youth.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1385942084763047/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997710/

Epstein-Ngo and colleagues recruited youths 14-20 years old, who came to an emergency room for any reason and administered a survey on a tablet computer measuring demographics, substance use, physical dating violence, nondating violence, community violence exposure, technology-delivered dating violence (TDA), victimization and/or aggression, mentors, religious support, self-esteem, and mindfulness.

 

They found that the youths who had a dating partner in the past 2 months, 48.1% reported technology-delivered dating aggression (TDA) while 44.3% reported physical dating violence. A culture of violence was found to be an important risk factor as having experienced physical violence and/or been exposed to violence in the community were significantly associated with TDA. Alcohol use was also significantly associated with TDA. Finally, they found that high levels of mindfulness were associated with low levels of TDA.

 

Hence, in this sample of dating youths, technology-delivered dating violence (TDA) was prevalent and associated with alcohol and other violent experiences. Significantly, mindfulness was negatively associated with TDA. This suggests that exposure to violence may be an important promotive factor that could lead to a cycle of violence, where violence leads to more violence. Importantly, the results suggest that mindfulness may be an antidote. They further suggest that mindfulness training in youths may help to prevent TDA and dating violence in general. Obviously, much more work needs to be done. But, mindfulness training may be an important strategy to reduce the scourge of dating violence.

 

 “Mindfulness training is a technique that shows great promise as a tool for the development of healthy and constructive management of negative emotions. Mindfulness can reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. It has been used with success in populations as diverse as cardiac patients, prison inmates, police officers, and children. It incorporates deep breathing, heightened attention to one’s internal state, and the acceptance of internal discomfort. One can observe one’s own thoughts without identifying with them and acting on them.” – Laura Hayes

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Epstein-Ngo, Q. M., Roche, J. S., Walton, M. A., Zimmerman, M. A., Chermack, S. T., & Cunningham, R. M. (2014). Technology-Delivered Dating Aggression: Risk and Promotive Factors and Patterns of Associations Across Violence Types Among High-Risk Youth. Violence and Gender, 1(3), 131–133. http://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2014.0018

 

Abstract

Increasingly, technology (text, e-mail, and social media) is being used in dating relationships to stalk, control, threaten, and harass dating partners. This study examines risk and promotive factors associated with technology-delivered dating aggression (TDA) and relations between types of violence (physical dating/nondating, community violence, and TDA). Participants (14–20 years old) self-administered a computerized survey as part of a larger study at an urban emergency department. The study includes 210 youth who reported having a dating partner in the past 2 months. About 48.1% of participants reported TDA in the past 2 months. Mindfulness was negatively associated with TDA. Youth reporting TDA were more likely to report physical dating violence and community violence exposure. TDA is not an isolated occurrence and is positively associated with in-person violence among adolescents. Associations between TDA, risk and promotive factors, and other forms of violence can help identify avenues for targeting interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997710/

 

Produce Better Diabetes Management in Adolescents with Mindful Parenting

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By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindful Parenting is a contemplative practice through which our connection to our child, and awareness of our child’s presence, helps us become better grounded in the present moment.” – Scott Rogers

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be helpful with a vast array of medical and psychological problems. But, it is also helpful for dealing with everyday life, from work to relationships, to social interactions, to parenting. Raising children, parenting, is very rewarding. But, it can also be challenging. Children test parents frequently. They test the boundaries of their freedom and the depth of parental love. They demand attention and seem to especially when parental attention is needed elsewhere. They don’t always conform to parental dictates or aspirations for their behavior. They are often affected more by peers, for good or evil, than by parents. It is the parents challenge to control themselves, not overreact, and act appropriately in the face of strong emotions. Meeting these challenges becomes more and more important as the youth approaches adolescence, as that is the time of the greatest struggle for independence and the potential for damaging behaviors, particularly, alcohol, drugs, and sexual behavior.

 

The challenges of parenting require that the parent be able to deal with stress, to regulate their own emotions, and to be sensitive and attentive to their child. These skills are exactly those that are developed in mindfulness training. It improves the psychological and physiological responses to stress. It improves emotion regulation. And it improves the ability to maintain attention and focus in the face of high levels of distraction. This becomes particularly important with children with physical problems. Mindful parenting involves having emotional awareness of themselves but also having emotional awareness of and compassion for the child and having the skills to pay full attention to the child in the present moment, to accept parenting non-judgmentally and be emotionally non-reactive to the child. These skills have been shown to help children with psychological problems. But, it is not known if mindful parenting might also help the child better adapt and cope with physical challenges.

 

Type I Diabetes presents a myriad of challenges for any patient and especially for adolescents. Treatment requires rigorous adherence to a demanding schedule, including scheduled injections of insulin, eating programmed amounts at scheduled times, and monitoring activity levels; all with the goal of maintaining control over blood glucose levels. This is difficult for adults but with the emotional turmoil and social demands of adolescence it becomes particularly challenging and can impact on their quality of life.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Association of Mindful Parenting with Glycemic Control and Quality of Life in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Results from Diabetes MILES—The Netherlands.” See:

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1371475269543062/?type=3&theater

or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010614/

Serkel-Schrama and colleagues recruited a large sample of adolescents having Type I diabetes and their parents. The parents were asked to report on their child’s HbA1c levels as a measure of glycemic control and the number of severe events related to glycemic control including hospitalizations, and to complete and mindful parenting scale which included subscales measuring full attention, compassion for the child, non-judgmental acceptance of parental functioning, emotional non-reactivity in parenting, emotional awareness of the child, emotional awareness of self.  The adolescents completed self-report scales measuring overall quality of life and diabetes specific quality of life.

 

They found that adolescents who had higher levels of overall and diabetes specific quality of life were significantly more likely to have parents who were high in mindful parenting skills. Boys who had parents high in mindful parenting skills had significantly better glycemic control (HbA1c levels) while girls who had parents high in mindful parenting skills had significantly fewer hospitalizations for ketoacidosis. Hence, mindful parenting skills were associated with higher quality of life for the adolescents with Type I diabetes, better glycemic control in adolescent boys and fewer ketoacidosis events for girls. Hence, mindful parenting was associated with the adolescents being better able to cope with their disease.

 

These results are impressive. Most studies of mindfulness skills report on the effects of mindfulness on the individual themselves. The present study was unusual in that the effects of mindful parenting on the adolescent were reported. Adolescents notoriously are rebellious of parental authority, so the improved ability to cope with diabetes in the youths associated with having parents with mindful parenting skills is particularly impressive. It would appear that mindful parenting has far reaching effects on the children including their ability to deal with physical problems in adolescents.

 

So, produce better diabetes management in adolescents with mindful parenting.

 

“And the good news is that the work may seem invisible, but the results will blow you away. With practice, you’ll find yourself calmer all the time. Your child will be more cooperative, just because you’re different. And when you’re in a more peaceful state, you’ll find that some of the challenges with your child simply melt away.” – Aha! Parenting

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts

 

Study Summary

Serkel-Schrama, I. J. P., de Vries, J., Nieuwesteeg, A. M., Pouwer, F., Nyklíček, I., Speight, J., … Hartman, E. E. (2016). The Association of Mindful Parenting with Glycemic Control and Quality of Life in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Results from Diabetes MILES—The Netherlands. Mindfulness, 7(5), 1227–1237. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0565-1

 

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine associations between the mindful parenting style of parents of adolescents (aged 12–18) with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), and the glycaemic control and quality of life (QoL) of the adolescents. Chronic health conditions, such as T1DM, that require demanding treatment regimens, can negatively impact adolescents’ quality of life. Therefore, it is important to determine whether mindful parenting may have a positive impact in these adolescents. Age, sex and duration of T1DM were examined as potential moderators. Parents (N = 215) reported on their own mindful parenting style (IM-P-NL) and the adolescents’ glycaemic control. Parents and the adolescents with T1DM (N = 129) both reported on adolescents’ generic and diabetes-specific QoL (PedsQL™). The results showed that a more mindful parenting style was associated with more optimal hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values for boys. For girls, a more mindful parenting style was associated with not having been hospitalized for ketoacidosis. For both boys and girls, a more mindful parenting style was associated with better generic and diabetes-specific proxy-reported QoL. In conclusion, mindful parenting style may be a factor in helping adolescents manage their T1DM. Mindful parenting intervention studies for parents of adolescents with T1DM are needed to examine the effects on adolescents’ glycaemic control and their quality of life.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010614/