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Cited by 19Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Parenting Intervention for Psychological Flexibility and Emotion Regulation: Clinical Protocol and an Evidence-Based Case Study

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Flujas-Contreras, Juan M., García-Palacios, Azucena, Gómez, Inmaculada·2022·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph19095014PMC PMC9101648
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Abstract

Psychological flexibility has been found as a protective factor for several psychological problems, including the field of parenting. The present study aims to illustrate a clinical protocol, session by session, for the promotion of parental psychological flexibility and emotion regulation in a case study. The clinical protocol is based on third-wave behavior therapy in a brief intervention of four sessions. The intervention is presented in a clinical case of a mother with a child diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Both mother and child experienced problems with emotional regulation and psychological flexibility. The results show clinically significant improvements in psychological flexibility, emotional regulation, and stress parenting in the mother both after the intervention and at follow-up. In the child, emotional perspective-taking skills, acceptance, and valued actions improved. The case illustrates in detail the application of different strategies of acceptance, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and emotional defusion applicable to parenting. Clinical implications are discussed.

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  • ACT can enhance psychological flexibility in caregivers of children with other health conditions and improve caregiver and child mental health and children's ability to manage chronic health problems.

    “Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence showing that ACT can enhance psychological flexibility in caregivers of children with other health conditions and improve caregiver and child mental health (e.g., Benjamin et al., 2020;Flujas-Contreras et al., 2021;Flujas-Contreras et al., 2022) and the ability of children to manage chronic health problems (e.g., Wallace et al., 2016).”

    From Psychological Flexibility in Caregivers of Children With Congenital Craniofacial Conditions in the United Kingdom. (2026) · cites this paper as Flujas-Contreras et al., 2022

    The Discussion reports improved parental psychological flexibility and stress in an ACT-based case study involving a child with behavioral problems; it also reports improvement in the child’s psychological flexibility. The Introduction cites a review describing positive effects of ACT with parents of children with several medical conditions, but does not establish the claimed caregiver and child mental-health improvements for those conditions. The chronic-health-management clause is cited to Wallace et al., not to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Flujas-Contreras, J. M., García-Palacios, A., & Gómez, I.
Affiliations
  • University of Almería (ES)
  • Department of Psychology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellon, Spain
Corresponding author
Flujas-Contreras, Juan M.
ORCID
Flujas-Contreras, Juan M.
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-04-20
Volume
19
Issue
9
Pages
5014
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph19095014
PMC
PMC9101648
OpenAlex
W4224243660
Cited by
19
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4
FWCI
3.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Repositori UJI (Universitat Jaume I) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Repositorio de Patentes de la Universidad de Almería (Universidad de Almería) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AEI/10.13039/501100011033)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
parenting support, psychological flexibility, emotion regulation, third-wave behavior therapy, brief intervention, oppositional defiant disorder, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness, emotional perspective taking, mother-child relationship
MeSH terms
Emotional Regulation, Child, Clinical Protocols, Female, Humans, Mothers, Parenting, Mindfulness

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