| Research suggests parents' negative emotions are associated with ineffective parenting strategies, particularly in families with conduct problem children. Traditional parent training (PT) for conduct problem children, although effective in treating some families with problem children, has been found to be less effective for treating parents who are experiencing excessive emotional, psychological, and/or social stress. Adjunctive treatments have been developed to intervene with these parents. Based on theoretical and clinical research, the following study tested the usefulness of adopting a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) to a traditional PT program. MBI is proposed to enhance emotion regulation skills, and therefore assist parents in parenting more effectively—even in the midst of encountering intense, negative emotions that arise within a disciplinary context. Fifteen parents of conduct problem children were assigned to either a combined PT and MBI (PTMBI) program or a PT only group (PTA). Parents responded to self-report measures at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. It was hypothesized that parents in the PTMBI group would demonstrate greater improvements in emotion regulation and parenting skills at post-treatment and follow-up compared to the PT only group, and that children in the PTMBI would demonstrate significant improvement in child behavior compared to the PTA group at post-treatment and follow-up. Although some significant findings did emerge, the results did not support these hypotheses. These findings are discussed with consideration of the following methodological and statistical issues: power, baseline group differences, therapist effects, validity of measures, treatment content and practice compliance, and treatment dosage differences. Recommendations for future study are made. |
