The effects of an online mindfulness-based intervention for parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Zoe Jiwen Zhang, Herman Hay Ming Lo, Rebecca Y M Cheung et al.
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In 30 seconds
This two-arm randomized controlled trial compared an online mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) with online psychoeducation in 248 parents of children aged 6 to 12 years with ADHD symptoms. Outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Both groups showed significant, lasting improvements in children’s ADHD symptoms and executive functioning, as well as parental well-being; parental stress and two dimensions of expressed emotion also decreased. The MBI had a specific benefit for insomnia, while evidence for improved parent-child relationship quality was inconsistent.
Key findings
- Both groups showed significant, lasting improvements in children’s ADHD symptoms and executive functioning.
- Parental well-being improved, while parental stress and critical comments and initial statements decreased in both groups.
- The online MBI showed a specific benefit for insomnia.
- A small improvement in parent-child relationship quality was not consistently supported by sensitivity analysis.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that online support for parents may be associated with improvements in child symptoms and family-related outcomes, with benefits observed in both mindfulness and psychoeducation groups. The insomnia finding may indicate a potential additional outcome of online mindfulness, but the inconsistent relationship-quality result and need to verify sustained, specific effects warrant cautious interpretation.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not report effect sizes. The parent-child relationship finding was small and not consistently supported by sensitivity analysis; the authors call for further study of specific and sustainable MBI effects.