Mastery of Behavioral Parent Training Skills by Parents with Low Income: The Role of Mindful Attention

Behavioral parent training (BPT) is considered the standard of care for early-onset behavior disorders which disproportionately affect children from low-income households. However, BPT does not work equally well for all families, highlighting the importance of better understanding predictors of treatment progress and outcomes. Parent mindfulness has been discussed as one such construct that may improve treatment response, and researchers have adapted BPT to target mindfulness with mixed results. Past research has not examined parent dispositional mindfulness as a predictor of BPT skill mastery.

This study explored the link between parents’ baseline self-report of mindful attention, an aspect of dispositional mindfulness, and observed parent skill mastery at post-treatment and follow-up in a sample of 101 families with low income during a mastery-based BPT program validated for young children, Helping the Noncompliant Child.

Results of a spline growth model suggest that parents with greater mindful attention achieved higher levels of skill mastery than those with lower mindful attention. However, this varied by aspect of skill mastery and assessment timepoint.

Parent mindful attention was associated with parental use of BPT skills. Findings support continued examination of the potential benefits of mindfulness-adapted BPT and have the potential to inform tailored BPT programs consistent with a precision medicine approach. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

This study is not preregistered.