Mindfulness and acceptance interventions for parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with chronic medical conditions: A systematic review
Abstract
Background: Mindfulness and acceptance interventions (MAIs) have been identified as potentially beneficial for parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with chronic medical conditions. Objective: The objective of this review was to provide a descriptive summary of the existing literature on MAIs delivered to parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with chronic medical conditions. Data sources: Electronic searches were conducted by a Library Information Specialist familiar with the field by using EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EBM Reviews Databases, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Study eligibility, participants, and interventions: Peer-reviewed journal articles of MAIs delivered to parents of children and adolescents (birth to 18 years of age) diagnosed with a chronic medical condition were eligible for inclusion. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: A total of 18 studies involving 793 parents met inclusion criteria and thus were included in this review. The majority of studies were either pre/post design (n = 8) or randomized controlled trials (n = 6). Most interventions were delivered within a group (n = 6) or individually (n = 5). Nearly all studies (n = 14) reported statistically significant outcomes following the MAI intervention. Conclusions and implications of key findings: Descriptive information yielded from this review provides promising evidence that MAIs are being delivered to parents across the world and many researchers are using similar outcome measures when assessing the psychological flexibility, acceptance, and mindfulness skills following participation in MAIs among this population of parents.
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ACT is effective for improving HRQL in parents of children with chronic conditions, chronic pain, and anxiety.
“Empirical findings suggest that ACT is effective for improving HRQL in clinical samples of adults living with chronic illness such as IBD [13,14] and in parents of children with chronic conditions, chronic pain, and anxiety [11,15,16,17,18].”
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- Authors
- Ruskin, D., Young, M., Sugar, C., & Nofech-Mozes, J.
- Affiliations
- York University (CA)
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- Western University (CA)
- Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
- Corresponding author
- Young, Melissa
- Venue
- The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2021-02-01
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 120-135
- ISSN
- 1075-5535 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-7708
- OpenAlex
- W3097390891
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 0.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Keywords
- children with chronic illness, adolescents with chronic conditions, psychological flexibility, acceptance, mindfulness skills, parent intervention, group intervention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Chronic Disease, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Parents, Parenting, Mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
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