Is Mindful Parenting Associated with School-Aged Children’s Meta-Mood? Exploring the Role of Children’s Mindfulness

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that mindful parenting is associated with children’s emotional development. The current study explored the association between mindful parenting and school-aged children’s meta-mood, with children’s mindfulness as a potential mediator. A total of 375 valid parent-child pairs were recruited from two primary schools in China. Parents’ mindful parenting and children’s meta-mood were measured at baseline. Five months later, children completed measures of mindfulness and meta-mood. The results indicated that mindful parenting directly and indirectly predicted school-aged children’s meta-mood, with the latter mediated by children’s mindfulness. This study contributes to the field of emotional development in school-aged children. The results of this study imply that intervention in mindful parenting may foster school-aged children’s healthy emotional development through children’s mindfulness.