Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Parents of Children with Developmental Delays: Understanding the Experiences of Latino Families

Abstract

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) report elevated mental health difficulties compared to parents of children with typical development, which appear largely associated with child behavior problems. Latino parents of children with DD may experience heightened risk for poor mental health outcomes due additional stressors associated with minority status. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) appears to be efficacious for reducing parenting stress and improving wellbeing in families of children with DD; however, studies have rarely focused on families from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. The current study employed a mixed-methods, waitlist-control design to examine the efficacy of MBSR for improving parent and child outcomes in Latino and non-Latino families. Results indicate that MBSR is similarly efficacious for Latino and non-Latino families in improving parent mental health (parenting stress, depressive symptomatology, and life satisfaction) and reducing parent-reported child behavior problems. Qualitative analyses further highlight avenues for improving the efficacy of MBSR for Latino families by providing intervention directly in Spanish, rather than using translation services, for Spanish-speaking families. Findings reveal the efficacy of standard MSBR for Latino parents of children with DD and underscore the potential benefits of disseminating this practice to traditionally underrepresented families.

The Effect of Mindfulness Interventions for Parents on Parenting Stress and Youth Psychological Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…When the initial search conducted in August 2018 was updated in October 2018, five additional studies were identified by the first author. Two of these, Chan and Neece (2018) and Neece et al (2018), also appeared to report data from a group of participants overlapping with those used in Neece (2014). As these two new studies and Neece (2014) all reported on parenting stress, the parenting stress outcomes from Chan and Neece (2018) and Neece et al (2018) were not included in this review.…”

“…Two of these, Chan and Neece (2018) and Neece et al (2018), also appeared to report data from a group of participants overlapping with those used in Neece (2014). As these two new studies and Neece (2014) all reported on parenting stress, the parenting stress outcomes from Chan and Neece (2018) and Neece et al (2018) were not included in this review. The child outcome reported by Chan and Neece (2018) was not included in Neece (2014), so this child outcome is reported in Table 3, also under Neece (2014).…”

“…The child outcome reported by Chan and Neece (2018) was not included in Neece (2014), so this child outcome is reported in Table 3, also under Neece (2014). However, the child outcomes reported in Neece et al (2018) were also reported in Neece (2014), so this study was not included in this review. Accordingly, 25 independent studies are included in this review.…”

The Role of Compassion and Mindfulness in Building Parental Resilience When Caring for Children With Chronic Conditions: A Conceptual Model

“…To our knowledge, most interventions have been conducted with predominantly Caucasian participants. Most studies with culturally diverse populations did not examine differences in outcomes based on race, ethnicity, culture, or religions, with the exception of a study by Neece et al (2019) that found that participation in MBSR with simultaneous English-Spanish interpretation resulted in improved mental health for Latino parents of children with developmental delay. Formative research is needed to explore the extent to which mindfulness and compassion practices align with the cultural or spiritual values of communities of color and inform the design of culturally relevant interventions.…”

Do Less Mindful Mothers Show Better Parenting via Improvements in Trait Mindfulness Following a Military Parent Training Program?

“…While participants' parenting experiences may be discussed, no behavioral parenting skills are taught. A few RCTs have evidenced the outcomes of mindfulness-based programs for parents and their children, including reduced parental stress (Chaplin et al, 2018), improved parental mental health (Dykens et al, 2014; Neece et al, 2018), as well as reduced child behavioral problems (Neece et al, 2018). Nonetheless, many studies in this area lacked experimental designs in their evaluation, as the research field is still in its infancy, and it is unclear to what degree these mindfulness-based parenting programs are effective for enhancing behavioral parenting skills.…”