Mindfulness Essay

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Recommended: The role of resilience in relation to children

Writing Sample
Excerpt from a study design aimed at reducing the prevalence of mood disorders among adolescents.
Merikangas et al. (2010) found that the lifetime prevalence of mood disorders among U.S. adolescents is 14%. While many factors contribute to the development of a mood disorder, parenting style has been proven to be an important mediating variable (Repetti, Taylor & Seeman, 2002). In our study we propose a socio-cognitive mindfulness training for the parents to foster a more flexible parenting style. We will examine whether this intervention improves the quality of the parent-child interaction and increases the resilience of the adolescent children.

To understand why training in mindfulness might improve parent-child interactions it is helpful to review the history of the construct. Langer & Moldoveaunu (2000) gave a chronological overview of the research on mindfulness. In their article they discuss both mindlessness and mindfulness. Even though the construct currently is described as a continuum ranging from mindless (or low mindful) to mindful in the beginning both were researched as separate constructs.

Langer’s (2012) study defined mindfulness as a process of actively making novel distinctions about objects in one’s awareness. This act of actively making novel distinctions is one part of the overall definition of mindfulness. Langer and Moldoveaunu (2000) have previously defined mindfulness as a mindset of openness to novelty in which the individual actively constructs novel categories and distinctions. Mindfulness thus can be seen as an active mindset characterized by novel distinction–drawing that results in being 1) situated in the present, 2) sensitive to context and perspective, and 3) guided (but not govern...

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...r & Seeman, 2002). This style of parenting is the opposite of a more mindful form of parenting. The flexibility and ability to look at situations from different perspectives, which are key concepts in mindfulness, would act as a buffer against a critical and static outlook.

The aim of this study is twofold. Firstly it aims to investigate whether training parents to be more mindful can be used as a strategy to prevent depression in fourteen-year-old adolescents by improving the quality of the parent-child interaction. Secondly it aims to examine whether mindfulness training can equip parents with the skills for the early detection of depression in their adolescents. We hypothesize that mindfulness training for the parents could improve the quality of the parent-child interaction, which could in turn improve the resilience and well-being of the adolescent children.

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