The Association Between Mindful Parenting and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: The Role of Mother-Child Communication.

This study aimed to explore the mediation process from maternal mindful parenting to adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems through mother-child communication and adolescent self-disclosure. A total of 496 mother-adolescent dyads participated in the current study. Mother-reported mindful parenting and mother-child communication and adolescent-reported self-disclosure and behavior problems were collected. Path analysis results showed that mothers' mindful parenting was indirectly associated with adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors through mother-child communication and adolescent self-disclosure. In addition, the specific components of mindful parenting were examined in detail. The component of interacting with full attention showed unique patterns, while components of compassion and acceptance and emotion awareness of children showed similar pattern with the total score. These findings contribute to the knowledge of the mechanism underlying how mindful parenting benefit adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and have implications for clinical interventions.