MINDFUL PARENTING AS A PREDICTOR OF PARENT-CHILD CONFLICT AMONG PAKISTANI PARENTS

Abstract

Parent-child conflict has been linked to many negative developmental outcomes such as emotional distress, behavioral problems, and diminished family relationships. Mindful parenting has grown into an exciting method to help foster healthier parent-child dynamics, while also increasing the awareness, present-centered attention, self-regulation, and compassionate responses of parents towards their children. There are, however, few empirical studies that have examined the concept of "mindful parenting" in Pakistan. The present study explored the correlation of mindful parenting with parent-child conflict and explored the influence of mindful parenting on parent-child conflict significantly among parents in Pakistan. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was used. Purposive sampling was used and 200 biological parents (96 male, 104 female) having at least one child aged 5-18 years were selected from educational institutions and communities in various cities in Pakistan. The participants filled out the demographic information form, Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting (IEM-P) Scale (Duncan, 2007), and the Conflict subscale of the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS; Pianta, 1992). Descriptive statistical analysis, Cronbach's alpha, Pearson product-moment correlation and simple linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between mindful parenting and parent-child conflict (r = -.26, p < .001), suggesting that parents who reported higher mindful parenting scores had less parent–child conflict. Additionally, regression analysis showed that mindful parenting significantly predicted parent-child conflict (β = -.26, B = -0.46, t(198) = -3.82, p < .001), explaining about 6.9% of the variance in parent–child conflict (R² = .069). The findings are consistent with Mindful Parenting Model and indicate that there is a positive relationship between parental mindfulness and healthy parent-child relationship, within the Pakistani context. The study shows the promise of the use of mindfulness-based parenting interventions for decreasing family conflict and improving parent-child relationships.