(PS12-10) Acceptability and Utility of a Pilot Study Targeting Parental Wellbeing and Self-management

Parental wellbeing has been directly linked to the wellbeing of children.  Several effective behavioral parenting interventions exist in the literature; most of those programs do not explicitly teach parents strategies for emotional and behavioral self-regulation while parenting.  Mindfulness strategies have recently demonstrated some efficacy in improving outcomes for children and parents when used to supplement traditional parenting programs. However, little is known about parents’ acceptability of parent programming completely focused on their own emotional regulation, mindfulness skills, and behavior when not used in conjunction with traditional parenting programming that also teaches child behavioral management strategies.  Therefore, the goal of this study was to assess the utility, acceptability, and self-efficacy for parents undergoing a group based, four-week parenting intervention focused solely on learning mindfulness-based strategies for improved self-management and wellbeing while parenting.  This intervention, CORE Parenting, was informed by Autonomy Supportive Parenting (Deci & Ryan, 2012) and mindful parenting as described by Duncan, Coatsworth & Green (2009.)  Brief, evidence-based skills to promote self-management and wellbeing were informed by the Broaden and Build Theory of Positive Emotion (Frederickson, 2011).  Participants were sixteen parents (82% mothers) from a local elementary school with children between the ages of 4 and 14.  Feedback captured after each session indicated overall ratings of acceptability and feasibility of this brief intervention.  On a scale of 1-10, participants rated the Usefulness of each session (M=8.98, SD=1.38), Likelihood of Applying session strategies (M=9.68; SD=0.6), and Confidence in Applying session strategies (M=8.6, SD=0.8).  Qualitative data further indicated acceptability of and enthusiasm for the program.  Notably, participants stated, “I liked all the options for keeping myself calm” and “the guided practice and group discussions were so helpful!”  Additionally, one participant noted, “thinking about my values as a parent and who I want to be is so important.”  Results indicate high ratings of utility, acceptability, and self-efficacy in using mindfulness-based, self-management strategies in this pilot study. Future studies using this intervention will long explore long term self-efficacy for this intervention.