Breath-Focused Mindfulness and Compassion Training in Parent-Child Dyads: Pilot Intervention Study.
Satish Jaiswal, Jason Nan, Seth Dizon, Jessica O Young, Suzanna R Purpura, James K Manchanda, Dhakshin Ramanathan, Dennis J Kuo, Jyoti Mishra
JMIR Formative Research July 17, 2025 DOI: 10.2196/69607 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 48 |
| Population | 24 parent-child dyads from a community sample of high average affluence socioeconomic scores |
| Duration | 30 sessions over 3 months; baseline and postintervention assessments within 2 weeks of training initiation or completion, with 3-month follow-up |
| Topics | Default mode network Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | EEG Child Compassion Electroencephalograph Parent |
| Citations | 5 |
| Post-publication review | 1 comment on PubPeer (opens in new tab) · last active November 2025 |
| Key points | The CoCo digital training program was feasible and associated with significant reductions in parental stress, anxiety, and depression, and with improved processing speed in children, but children's depression scores showed only a nonsignificant trend in the expected direction. |
Abstract
Depression in children is a concerning societal issue and can be associated with poor academic performance, school dropout, and poor overall quality of life. Additionally, child depression is often associated with parallel stress and depression in parents. This scenario highlights the urgent need for the development and implementation of accessible and scalable solutions that may cobenefit child and parent mental well-being. This pilot study introduced "Cooperative Compassion" (CoCo), a parent-child cotraining digital application aimed at promoting mindfulness and compassion through brief, performance-adaptive sessions. A community sample of 24 parent-child dyads (children's mean age 9.5, SD 3.27 years; female: n=14, male: n=10; Asian: n=5, White: n=11, mixed race: n=7, other race: n=1; and parents' mean age 44.5, SD 6.5 years; 20 female: n=20, male: n=4; Asian: n=8, White: n=14, mixed race: n=2) of high average affluence socioeconomic scores participated in the study. These parent-child dyads completed 30 sessions of CoCo training over 3 months with baseline and postintervention assessments occurring within 2 weeks of training initiation or completion, respectively. The program was feasible, with 80% (n=19) of families completing over 90% (n=22) of sessions and providing positive feedback. Mental health assessments showed a nonsignificant effect in the expected direction in children's depression scores (Cohen d=-0.19; 95% CI -8.89 to 1.74; P=.07) and significant reductions in parental stress (d=-0.41; 95% CI -2.63 to -0.16; P=.02), anxiety (d=-0.47; 95% CI -2.67 to -0.20; P=.02), and depression (d=-0.50; 95% CI -3.25 to -0.08; P=.03), with sustained benefits at the 3-month follow-up. Parental mindfulness improvements were correlated with stress reduction (ρ=-0.45; P=.03). On an emotion bias task used as an objective assessment of cognition, children demonstrated improved processing speed after the intervention (d=0.54; 95% CI 0.012-0.083; P=.005), and a marginal improvement was also observed in parents (d=0.19; 95% CI -0.004 to 0.030; P=.05). Cortical source imaging of electroencephalographic recordings was acquired simultaneous to an attention-to-breathing assessment that showed significant reduction in task-related default mode network activity (d=-0.62; 95% CI -0.0096 to -0.0002; P=.01). Post-CoCo intervention decrease in default mode network activity on the attention-to-breath task in parent-child dyads may be indicative of cortical plasticity reflecting reduced mind-wandering and thereby, enhanced focus after training. The current promising behavioral and cognitive results suggest the need for a larger sample size and a randomized controlled study design. Overall, these findings highlight the potential for brief, digital mindfulness and compassion cotraining to improve family mental health and well-being.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cites 19
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Neural mechanisms of attentional control in mindfulness meditation Frontiers in Neuroscience 2013
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Journal of Child and Family Studies February 1, 2011
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on Behavioral Problems and Attentional Functioning in Adolescents with ADHD Journal of Child and Family Studies September 21, 2011
and 14 more in the library