Mindful with your baby for mothers of infants with (parental) stress in a non-clinical setting: a wait-list controlled pilot trial.
Eva Sophie Potharst, Irena Veringa-Skiba, Esther Van Broekhuizen, Susan Maria Bögels
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth April 7, 2022 DOI: 10.1186/s12884-022-04640-z (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot waitlist-controlled trial Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 17 |
| Population | Mothers with infants aged 2-15 months who self-referred for parental stress in a non-clinical setting |
| Intervention | Mindful with Your Baby |
| Duration | 8 weekly 2-hour sessions; 8-week waitlist; 8-week follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Pilot projects Mother-child relations Parents Mothers Female Infants Intervention Parental stress Mindful parenting |
| Key findings | Mindful with Your Baby was associated with significant improvements in parental stress, general stress, depression, anxiety, mindfulness, and self-compassion from pretest to posttest, with moderate to large effect sizes. At 8-week follow-up, improvements persisted for all outcomes except anxiety, with small to moderate effect sizes. The intervention was well accepted, with 92.5% attendance and no drop-outs. |
Abstract
Background: Because of the far-reaching negative consequences of high levels of (parental) stress for the mother, infant, the mother-infant relationship, and family functioning, psychological support for young mothers is important. Mindful with Your Baby is a mindfulness-based intervention, originally developed and evaluated in a clinical population of mothers with mental health issues and/or babies with regulation problems. The current pilot examines whether Mindful with Your Baby for mothers with symptoms of (parental) stress offered in a non-clinical setting is also effective and acceptable.
Methods: In this pilot waitlist-controlled trial, 17 mothers with infants (2-15 months) admitted themselves for a Mindful with Your Baby training in a non-clinical setting because of (parental) stress. Mindful with Your Baby was offered in groups of three to six mother-infant dyads and consisted of eight weekly 2-h sessions. Participants completed questionnaires on symptoms of parental stress, general stress, depression, anxiety, mindfulness and self-compassion at 8-week waitlist, pretest, posttest and 8-week follow-up.
Results: There were no training drop-outs, attendance rate was 92.5%, and the training was evaluated positively: all mothers (100%) felt they got something of lasting importance as a result of taking the training, and reported becoming more conscious as a parent, and 93% reported changing their lifestyle or parenting as a result of the training. Multilevel analyses showed no significant changes between waitlist and pretest. At posttest, a significant improvement occurred in all outcome measures compared to pretest, of moderate to large effect sizes. At follow-up, a significant improvement was seen compared to pretest in all outcomes except anxiety compared to pretest, of small to moderate effect sizes.
Conclusions: Mindful with Your Baby appears an acceptable and effective intervention for mothers with a baby who experience (parental) stress but who have not been referred to specialized mental health care. A low threshold access to Mindful with Your Baby in non-clinical settings could provide a timely and positive interference in (parental) stress.
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 5
- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
- Mechanisms of action in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in people with physical and/or psychological conditions: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review July 2017
- 'I've Changed My Mind', Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) for pregnant women with a high level of fear of childbirth and their partners: study protocol of the quasi-experimental controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry November 7, 2016
- How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clinical Psychology Review April 1, 2015
- Psychometric properties of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire in depressed adults and development of a short form. Assessment May 17, 2011