(PS10-B42) Mixed-methods Assessment of Specific Practices, Benefits, and Obstacles to Bringing Mindfulness into Families’ Lives

A growing body of literature indicates that mindfulness, or a mental state characterized by present-moment awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, is associated with positive behaviors among parents, including increased attentiveness and reduced negative emotional responses to their children. These behaviors are in turn linked to higher-quality parent-child relationships (Lippold et al., 2015; Chaplin et al., 2018). To harness the positive effects of mindfulness on family relationships in the development of family-based interventions, a greater understanding of how parents attempt to incorporate mindfulness in their everyday family life (e.g., teaching, modeling, joint mindful activities), as well as which methods of incorporation are helpful with children of different ages, is needed.  Knowledge of the particular benefits of, and obstacles to, bringing mindfulness into families’ lives is also needed. This study will preliminarily assess these questions by comparing data from: 1) six qualitative focus groups with parents recruited from family mindfulness classes (n= 19) and 2) an online survey with parents recruited via social media groups devoted to the topics of mindfulness and/or mindful parenting (anticipated n = 100). Descriptive data from both samples will be presented on the specific practices that are more or less frequently used with younger and older children, and the most frequently cited benefits and challenges. In addition, correlational and regression analyses of the survey data will examine the extent to which greater frequency of engaging in family mindfulness activities is associated with higher scores on the General Functioning Scale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device (Epstein et al., 1983), as well as greater reported positive benefits. Through a mixed-methods assessment that complements quantitative survey responses with in-depth qualitative perspectives, our study will elucidate the specific practices parents have found most useful for cultivating mindful family interactions with children of different ages, critical information for informing development of effective mindfulness-based family interventions. Our study will also highlight the positive impacts parents perceive in bringing mindfulness into their families’ lives, offering important insights for how best to frame future interventions. Lastly, our study will identify concrete barriers to the practice of mindfulness in families, shedding light on factors future family-based mindfulness interventions must address in order to be practical and accessible.