Relationship between mindful parenting， parenting stress and adolescents' aggressive behaviors： based on actor-partner interdependence model

Abstract

BackgroundMindful parenting is related to the physical and mental health of adolescents， but only few empirical studies have been conducted on the mindful parenting and none has addressed on the impact and actor-partner effects of mindful parenting on adolescents' aggressive behaviors via parenting stress.ObjectiveTo explore the impact and actor-partner effects of mindful parenting on adolescents' aggressive behaviors via parenting stress， so as to provide references for improvements in family education and interventions on behavioral problems in adolescents.MethodsA sample of 907 subjects （including family members and students） from three classes in each of five grades from grade 5 in elementary school to grade 9 in junior high school in Mianyang， Sichuan Province were selected from September 8 to 15， 2023. Parents were assessed with Mindfulness In Parenting Questionnaire （MIPQ） and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form （PSI-SF）， and students were required to fulfill aggressive behavior scale of Youth Self-Report （YSR）. Pearson correlation analysis was utilized to examine the correlation among the above scales. The actor-partner interdependence model was used to analyze the impact of mindful parenting on their own and their spouses' parenting stress， as well as the impact on adolescents' aggressive behaviors via parenting stress.ResultsA total of 472 families completed the effective questionnaires. Both father and mother's mindful parenting exhibited an actor effect on adolescents' aggressive behaviors via their own parenting stress， with the effect size of -0.018 （P=0.002） and -0.026 （P=0.012）. The partner effect sizes of father's mindful parenting and mother's mindful parenting on adolescents' aggressive behaviors via their spouse's parenting stress were -0.006 （P=0.026） and -0.007 （P=0.012）， respectively.ConclusionMindful parenting has been proven to have specific indirect impact on adolescents' aggressive behaviors through their own and their spouse's parenting stress， and the actor effect and partner effect are found both significant. ［Funded by Key Project of National Education Science Planning and Ministry of Education （number， DBA220439）］

Keywords

• mindful parenting
• parenting stress
• adolescents
• aggressive behaviors
• actor-partner interdependence model