This study tests a group‐based secular contemplative practice intervention, Cognitively‐Based Compassion Training (CBCT), with parents of young children. We report on a randomized controlled preliminary efficacy study. Certified teachers administered CBCT for 20 hr across 8 to 10 weeks in two cohorts of parents with infants and young children. The intervention group was compared to a waitlist control group. Thirty‐nine parents and their children, who ranged in age from 4 months to 5 years, were evaluated at pre‐ and postintervention (n = 25 intervention, n = 14 waitlist control) on hair cortisol concentration. Parents also completed self‐administered questionnaires at both time points regarding demographics, physical symptoms of stress, parenting stress, self‐compassion, and mindfulness. Children of parents in the CBCT group experienced significant decreases in cortisol at the postintervention assessment, as compared with the control group. However, parent cortisol and self‐report measures did not significantly change other than a small effect on clinical levels of parenting stress. CBCT may be a positive new way to intervene with parents to lower infants’ and young children's cumulative physiological stress.

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This study examined how distinct aspects of parents’ schemas of their children are related to caregiving behaviors. It included 242 families with toddlers and young children, most of whom were living in poverty (37% White, 25% Black, 19% Latine, 17% Multiracial, and 2% Asian; child age = 21–39 months; median family income = $1,555 per month). The elaboration and emotional valence of parents’ schemas were coded from brief responses to open-ended questions about children’s personality; observations of parents’ sensitivity and learning support were assessed in structured and unstructured settings. Results of regression equations controlling for multiple family, parent, and child characteristics revealed that both greater elaboration and positive emotional valence were uniquely related to parents’ sensitivity (standardized β = .15, p = .05, and β = .13, p = .04, respectively), but only elaboration was uniquely related to learning support (β = .35, p < .001). This study highlights the special importance of the elaboration of parents’ schemas in understanding caregiving behaviors among families living in poverty and the potential value of enhancing elaboration in family-focused preventive interventions.