Feasibility, Acceptability, and Clinical Trends of a Mindfulness-Informed Child Welfare Intervention: Implications for Trauma-Focused Practice

Abstract

Exposure to stress and early life trauma have been linked to child maltreatment and parental substance misuse. These issues often co-occur, yet few child welfare services target their shared underlying causes in a single intervention. Teaching mindfulness-informed strategies to substance-misusing families in the child welfare system may be one promising trauma-informed approach. As part of a larger pilot study testing the initial efficacy of a mindfulness-informed intervention for parents in public child welfare, this study explored the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical trends of the intervention using weekly reports of stress, coping, and mindfulness. Findings show support for the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention as well as positive responses to the intervention on measures of stress and mindfulness. However, the impact of the intervention varied with regard to improving weekly coping among participants. Implications for the integration of mindfulness into child welfare practice as a trauma-informed approach are discussed.