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Selected forest plots of meta-analytic effects linking parenting stress to dimensions of flexibility and inflexibility.
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A growing body of research supports the importance of ACT's therapeutic targets (i.e., dimensions of psychological flexibility and inflexibility) for promoting individual wellbeing. The current systematic review and meta-analysis extended that work by examining how specific dimensions of psychological flexibility and inflexibility are linked to fam...
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Context 1
... stress. As shown in Table 3, one of the most widely studied family correlates of psychological flexibility was parenting stress/burden. Fig. 3 presents forest plots for some of these metaanalytic effects. Using Cohen's (1992) guidelines for correlational effect sizes (small: r = 0.1-0.29; moderate: r = 0.3-0.49; and large: r = 0.5 and above), the three dimensions of inflexibility examined with this correlate all demonstrated moderate links to current levels of parenting ...
Context 2
... (small: r = 0.1-0.29; moderate: r = 0.3-0.49; and large: r = 0.5 and above), the three dimensions of inflexibility examined with this correlate all demonstrated moderate links to current levels of parenting stress. Thus, higher levels of lack of present moment awareness (most commonly measured with the MAAS or the FFMQ awareness subscale; see Fig. 3A), self as content (i.e., judging or shaming difficult feelings/experiences, most commonly measured with the FFMQ non-judgment subscale), and global inflexibility (most commonly measured with the AAQ-II or the FFMQ total scores; Fig. 3C) were predictive of higher levels of parenting stress. This suggests that, consistent with the ...
Context 3
... of lack of present moment awareness (most commonly measured with the MAAS or the FFMQ awareness subscale; see Fig. 3A), self as content (i.e., judging or shaming difficult feelings/experiences, most commonly measured with the FFMQ non-judgment subscale), and global inflexibility (most commonly measured with the AAQ-II or the FFMQ total scores; Fig. 3C) were predictive of higher levels of parenting stress. This suggests that, consistent with the Hexaflex model and Hypothesis 3, parents' rigid and inflexible responses to daily challenging or difficult situations within families might serve to exacerbate the adverse impact of those experiences, leaving parents feeling more stressed ...
Context 4
... model and Hypothesis 3, parents' rigid and inflexible responses to daily challenging or difficult situations within families might serve to exacerbate the adverse impact of those experiences, leaving parents feeling more stressed out, overwhelmed and burdened. In contrast, higher levels of attentive awareness, cognitive defusion, acceptance ( Fig. 3B), self as context, and global flexibility ( Fig. 3D) were robustly linked to lower parenting stress. Thus, parents' abilities to approach challenging feelings and situations with non-judgmental attentive awareness, accepting them, and gently experiencing them while maintaining a broader perspective might help to buffer parents from the ...
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... responses to daily challenging or difficult situations within families might serve to exacerbate the adverse impact of those experiences, leaving parents feeling more stressed out, overwhelmed and burdened. In contrast, higher levels of attentive awareness, cognitive defusion, acceptance ( Fig. 3B), self as context, and global flexibility ( Fig. 3D) were robustly linked to lower parenting stress. Thus, parents' abilities to approach challenging feelings and situations with non-judgmental attentive awareness, accepting them, and gently experiencing them while maintaining a broader perspective might help to buffer parents from the potential draining impact of those ...
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... In these studies, perceived self-efficacy in dealing with a given range of stressors was thought to stimulate a sense of personal competence (i.e., by confirming their ability to handle stressors) and to counteract experiential avoidance tendencies, which ultimately improved adjustment. Accordingly, psychological flexibility (i.e., ability to engage in meaningful living directions despite the presence of negative stimuli) has been identified as a significant correlate of partner relationship satisfaction and parenting burden (Daks & Rogge, 2020), but no potential mechanism has been yet examined to explain such links in relation to adjustment. ...
is known about the potential mechanisms via which partner relationship satisfaction may exert its effects on the mental health of perinatal women. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory study was to examine the direct and indirect effects, via maternal self-efficacy and psychological flexibility in sequence, of partner relationship satisfaction on the complete mental health of women at high risk for postpartum depression (PPD). The sample for this study comprised 963 early postpartum women presenting high-risk for PPD, as determined by the clinical cutoff score obtained through the Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory-Revised. The assessment protocol further included self-report measures of partner relationship satisfaction, maternal self-efficacy, psychological flexibility, depression, anxiety, and positive mental health. Correlation analyses were conducted to ascertain associations between variables, and structural equation modelling (path analysis) was performed to examine direct and indirect effects. The observed results revealed that higher levels of partner relationship satisfaction were related to lower levels of postpartum psychological distress and higher levels of positive mental health. Moreover, those links were found to be sequentially mediated by maternal self-efficacy and psychological flexibility. These findings suggest that increased maternal self-efficacy, boosted by satisfactory partner relationships, may improve the psychological flexibility of women at high risk for PPD, and ultimately their complete mental health. Accordingly, intervention efforts to prevent PPD may increase their effectiveness by addressing partner relationship satisfaction as a key variable for the promotion of complete perinatal mental health.
... In support of this hypothesis, there is evidence linking higher psychological flexibility to higher levels of positive affect, lower levels of negative affect, and higher relationship quality (Twiselton et al., 2020). In a recent meta-analysis, Daks and Rogge (2020) observed that some indicators of psychological inflexibility (i.e., lower psychological flexibility) were associated with lower relationship satisfaction, lower emotional supportiveness, as well as lower sexual satisfaction. Likewise, in a recent study, Valentova et al. (2020) found that sociosexual orientation positively predicted mating effort. ...
... People with low psychological flexibility tend to do unhealthy actions such as overeating to avoid or diminish physical and psychological discomfort, and commonly feel lower partner and sexual satisfaction (Daks & Rogge, 2020). Notably, the associations and potential directional relationships between psychological flexibility, sociosexual orientation, and indicators of general health such as minor ailments or self-rating of health have also not been studied. ...
Evolutionary approaches to human mating strategies have associated facial and physical attractiveness with cues of health, fertility, and personality traits both in men and women. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that these associations may be mediated by psychological flexibility (an indicator of mental health) and/or sociosexual orientation (an indicator of mating strategy). Study aims were: (1) to examine potential correlations between self-perceived attractiveness, self-reported health, minor ailments, mating effort, sociosexual orientation, and psychological flexibility, (2) to test whether psychological flexibility and sociosexual orientation mediate these associations, and (3) to explore potential directional relationships between the study variables. A mixed-sex sample of 211 young adults completed an online battery of questionnaires that gathered demographic, personality, and behavioral data. We found low-to-moderate positive partial correlations (controlling for age, sex, and BMI) between self-perceived attractiveness, self-reported health, mating effort, sociosexual orientation, and psychological flexibility. In contrast, minor ailments were negatively correlated with self-reported health and psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility and sociosexual orientation independently and partially mediated the association between self-perceived attractiveness and mating effort. Potential causal effects between all the study variables were also discussed. This study contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary aspects of human attractiveness and mating strategies. Further studies are needed to test causality and covariation between these variables to disentangle their potential bidirectional impact on mental health and psychological wellbeing.
... According to the vulnerability stress adaptation model (VSA) [45], in the face of a stressful event or difficult situation, two people in an intimate relationship need to use internal qualities, such as psychological flexibility, interpersonal skills, and communication, to deal with it. Failure to properly handle such an event or situation may undermine the quality of the relationship and create additional stressful events, such as increased levels of conflict in the future [46]. The transactional theory of stress and coping [47] also emphasizes the dynamic relationship between individuals and stressful environments. ...
... For example, in the face of unsupportive IC, parents with high psychological flexibility levels can assess their own and their counterparts' behaviors in a non-judgmental manner. Consequently, they can effectively distance themselves from negative emotions and create a conducive environment to mitigate conflict [46,48]. Conversely, parents with low psychological flexibility levels are emotionally vulnerable to conflict [41,46] and may respond in reactive and aggressive ways. ...
... Consequently, they can effectively distance themselves from negative emotions and create a conducive environment to mitigate conflict [46,48]. Conversely, parents with low psychological flexibility levels are emotionally vulnerable to conflict [41,46] and may respond in reactive and aggressive ways. For example, they may blame grandparents for undermining their parenting efforts, or they may increase their authoritarian parenting style for children to emphasize authority. ...
This study examined whether parenting styles mediated the relationship between unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting and children’s social competence, and whether the first stage of the mediating process, as well as the direct association between unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting and children’s social competence, was moderated by maternal psychological flexi-bility. The theoretical model was tested using data collected from 412 mothers of children aged 3–6 years at four kindergartens in Shanghai, China. The results showed that: (1) unsupportive in-tergenerational co-parenting was negatively associated with children’s social competence through decreased maternal authoritative parenting and increased authoritarian parenting and (2) the first stage of the mediation mechanism was moderated by maternal psychological flexibility. Specifi-cally, unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting was significantly associated with authoritative and authoritarian parenting for mothers with low and high psychological flexibility, respectively, and the magnitude of the association was higher for mothers with low psychological flexibility. These findings extend the understanding of how and when unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting impacts children’s social competence.
... Furthermore, Spruijt et al. (2018) pointed out that excellent parenting strategies were essential to satisfy the needs of children, which might positively affect CER [42]. Daks and Rogge (2021) pointed out that psychological flexibility directly affected parenting interaction and emotion [43]. In sum, PPF may shape children's emotional regulation by influencing parenting practices and attitudes. ...
... PPF is a protective factor for a healthy parentchild relationship. It helps children improve their emotion regulation to avoid the influence of external negative stimuli [43], thus reducing the risk of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Preschoolers are in the initial stage of physical and mental development and are easily affected by external stimuli [66]. ...
Children’s behavior problems are not conducive to their sustainable development. Therefore, it is of great value to explore the mechanism of relevant influencing factors on the behavior problems of rural preschoolers. This study aimed to reveal the direct effect of parental psychological flexibility on children’s behavior problems and the mediating effect of children’s emotion regulation. Based on simple random sampling, 355 caregivers (male = 31.25 years, SD = 9.78; 74.08% females; 9.01% bachelor degree) were recruited from eight rural kindergartens in three provinces in northeast China. With questionnaires, caregivers reported their parental psychological flexibility and assessed their children’s emotion regulation and behavior problems. SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical data analysis. The results support our hypotheses, suggesting that parental psychological flexibility, emotional stability, and emotional regulation negatively predicted children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Meanwhile, emotional stability and regulation partially mediated the relationship between parental psychological flexibility and children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. These findings provide a new perspective for preventing and intervening in preschoolers’ behavior problems.
... Longitudinal or experimental studies in which psychological flexibility processes are manipulated are needed to evaluate its potential causal impact on chronic pain patients' functioning. Third, psychological flexibility and psychological inflexibility are two different concepts (50,66) that were simplified in this study by reversing the results of measuring inflexibility to represent flexibility due to the limited number of available studies. Future research could explore the relationship between the different dimensions of psychological inflexibility and flexibility (i.e., the 12 dimensions) and domains of functioning. ...
... with the Mindful attention awareness scale (MAAS), the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), and subscales of FFMQ (i.e., acting with awareness). Self as context was measured with Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), Self-experiences questionnaire (SEQ), and FFMQ-non-judgment(50).Values were measured with the Chronic Pain Values Inventory (CPVI), the Valuing Questionnaire (VQ), and the Engaged living scale (ELS). Functional impairment mainly was measured with the Brief Pain Inventory-functional impairment subscale (BPI), Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Pain Disability Index (PDI), Functional Disability Inventory (FDI), Fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), and Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI). ...
The previous research showed contradictions in the relationships between psychological flexibility processes and functioning. This meta-analysis is the first to provide a comprehensive meta-analysis of the associations between six core processes of psychological flexibility and functioning among chronic pain patients. Four databases were searched (PsycINFO; PubMed; CINAHL; Web of Science) along with reference lists. Thirty-six cross-sectional studies were included (7,812 chronic pain patients). A three-level meta-analytic model was used to examine the associations. The publication bias was assessed with the Egger test, funnel plot, and p-curve analysis. Significant associations were found between functioning and six processes of psychological flexibility (i.e., acceptance, defusion, present moment, committed action, self as context, and values). Except for the relationship between defusion and functioning, the relationships between the other five psychological flexibility processes and functioning were all moderated by domains of functioning. No moderators were found regarding age, percentage of females, country, or type of instrument used to measure functioning. These findings may carry significant implications for chronic pain patients and clinical workers. It might be more effective to focus on functioning-related psychological flexibility processes rather than all therapy packages if the relationships between functioning and specific processes of psychological flexibility were better informed. Limitations were also discussed.
... This assertion is supported by studies showing that parents with high levels of dispositional mindfulness tend to use more warm and responsive and less harsh and inconsistent parenting, ultimately linking to children's well-being and positive development (Corthorn & Milicic, 2016;Gouveia et al., 2016;Siu et al., 2016;Zhang et al., 2019). Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis examining the link between parents' mindful tendencies (e.g., attentive awareness, acceptance) and parenting found that mindfulness was correlated with less parental stress, laxness, and harshness in parenting across studies (Daks & Rogge, 2020). Another meta-analysis of 30 studies focusing on parents' dispositional mindfulness and parenting also found that the correlation between dispositional mindfulness and negative parenting behaviors (overreactivity, harshness, parental anger) was similar in strength across parents of clinical and community samples of children (Kil, Antonacci, et al., 2021b). ...
Objectives
Research interest in mindfulness, the capacity for present-oriented, nonjudgmental attention and awareness, and its relation to parenting has been growing in recent years. However, factors facilitating the association between mindfulness and parenting are not yet well understood. In the present study, we examined whether parents’ biased causal thinking about children’s misbehaviors, i.e., parental attributions, may mediate the link between parents’ dispositional mindfulness and parenting. Given that parents of children with clinically elevated mental health difficulties tend to report more biased parental attributions, we further examined whether the proposed mediation may differ across parents of children with and without clinical diagnoses or referrals for mental health difficulties.
Methods
Parents (59.8% mothers) of 8- to 12-year-old children with (n = 157) and without (n = 99) clinical diagnoses or referrals for mental health difficulties participated in online surveys assessing their mindfulness, parental attributions, and negative parenting behaviors.
Results
More mindful parents reported less negative parenting, with the link significantly mediated by less biased parent-directed attributions, but not child-directed attributions. The mediating effect via parent-directed attributions was significantly moderated by the child’s clinical status: the effect was retained only for parents of children with clinical diagnoses or referrals for mental health difficulties. No significant moderation effect emerged for child-directed attributions.
Conclusions
The results provide initial support for the links among parents’ mindfulness, parental attributions, and parenting. The present findings suggest that parental mindfulness may be important for less biased parental attributions, with implications for parenting behaviors at least in the context of children’s mental health disorders.
... However, Buddhism also has an interpersonal component (Amaro & Singh, 2021), leading theorists (Kwee, 2013) to suggest a social constructivist revision of the BPM as Relational Buddhism. Consistent with this, recent meta-analytic findings have linked the various aspects of mindfulness within the BI-UFM to dynamics and interpersonal functioning within families and romantic relationships (Daks & Rogge, 2020). Thus, future work could extend the current findings by applying the BI-UFM to close relationships. ...
Objectives
The Unified Flexibility and Mindfulness (UFM) model is a process-oriented multistage mechanistic model operationalizing the interplay between forms of mechanistic mindfulness and informed mindfulness, thereby representing holistic mindfulness as a set of interrelated processes and clarifying their links to well-being. Recent cross-sectional, correlational findings from a US sample supported the UFM model. The current study used data across 4 countries to link everyday aspects of Buddhism to components within the UFM model, thereby (1) extending work on the UFM model cross-culturally, (2) empirically tracing various aspects of mindfulness back to their origins, and (3) extending Buddhist psychology to embrace a broad operationalization of mindfulness within the Buddhism-Informed UFM (BI-UFM) model.
Methods
A sample of 2091 online respondents (68% female, M = 32yo) drawn from 5 cultural groups (668 white Americans, 319 Asian Americans, 332 Chinese, 400 Japanese, 362 Taiwanese) completed the Three Teachings of East Asia (TTEA) inventory, the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI; a UFM measure), and measures of distress and well-being.
Results
Confirmatory SEM analyses suggested that across random sample halves, culture groups, and Buddhists vs. non-Buddhists, key aspects of Buddhism (e.g., impermanence, meditation practice) were stably and consistently linked to greater mindful present moment awareness and decentering, which were in turn linked to value-driven behavior and well-being. Aspects of punishing karmic view were linked to higher distraction/inattention and defensively reacting to difficult experiences, which were in turn linked to aimless haphazard behavior and distress. Exploratory network analyses yielded comparable findings, highlighting the central nature of meditation practice and informed, value-driven behavior. The results more broadly supported the BI-UFM process model in which forms of mechanistic mindfulness were linked to greater informed mindfulness (e.g., decentering and value-driven behavior), highlighting possible paths toward cultivating holistic mindfulness, thereby promoting well-being.
Conclusions
The current results support the BI-UFM model as a conceptual framework for understanding how Buddhist thought might shape the lives of individuals across the globe.
... Children from an early age witness their parents' romantic relationships [15]. Children with a positive family environment are more capable to develop a model helping them to control and adapt to their emotions. ...
... Finally, although this study did not assess the rigidity/inflexibility of the sexual beliefs, it may be that besides its content, the level of rigidity of the beliefs plays also a role in predicting sexual functioning and distress. Recent findings suggest that psychological inflexibility is associated with lower relationship satisfaction (Daks & Rogge, 2020) and that flexibility sexual scripts are linked to sexual satisfaction and lowered sexual distress (Gauvin & Pukall, 2018). ...
Recent findings suggest that the current COVID-19 pandemic has a potential negative impact in several areas of life, including sexual health. However, less is known about the psychological dimensions that may work as vulnerability/protective factors for the development of sexual problems in the current pandemic. The current study used a longitudinal design to examine the role played by personality trait factors (neuroticism, extraversion) as well as psychosexual factors (sexual beliefs) in predicting sexual functioning and sexual distress across time during the current pandemic crisis. A total of 528 individuals (337 women) completed a web survey assessing sexual health indicators and psychological factors. The first wave was conducted during the confinement period in Portugal (N = 528) between May and June 2020 and the second four months later (N = 146), when strict confinement rules were over. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to examine the ability of psychological factors to predict sexual functioning and distress across time, while controlling for age and gender. Results indicated that sexual distress at time point 2 was lower than during confinement, and men had lower levels of sexual functioning post-confinement while no significant difference was observed for women. Moreover, higher levels of neuroticism and age-related beliefs significantly predicted lower sexual functioning as well as higher sexual distress, whereas lower levels of extraversion predicted lower sexual functioning after controlling for age and gender effects. Findings support the role of psychological vulnerability factors to predict sexual problems across time and may have important implications in the prevention and treatment of sexual dysfunctions.
... However, despite the wealth of research in support of various models of mindful parenting, studies have largely explored the links between mindfulness and parenting separately for mindful parenting, positive parenting, and negative parenting. A recent meta-analysis by Daks and Rogge (2020) has thoroughly synthesized the literature on psychological flexibility, including present moment awareness, acceptance, and other elements related to mindfulness, in relation to parenting behaviors. The authors found that greater psychological flexibility was linked to more adaptive and less lax, harsh parenting strategies, as well as fewer child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with all effect sizes being moderate in size, r = − 0.335 to 0.419. ...
Objectives
There has been increasing interest in recent years on the links between parents’ mindfulness and their parenting. The present meta-analysis systematically synthesized the research on the associations between mindfulness and mindful, positive, and negative parenting. The mediating role of mindful parenting in the indirect link between mindfulness and child outcomes was also explored using meta-structural equation modeling (meta-SEM).MethodsA systematic search was conducted for relevant literature published up to August 2020 in five databases. A total of 30 studies were identified and data were extracted. Random-effects models were used to investigate the pooled correlations. Validity of pooled correlations was analyzed by examining outliers, publication bias with trim-and-fill analyses, between-study heterogeneity, and subgroup analyses.ResultsPooled correlations were significantly positive between mindfulness and both mindful parenting (rp = .468) and positive parenting (rp = .237), and significantly negative for negative parenting (rp = − .167). Exploratory meta-SEM results indicated positive, moderate effects between mindfulness and mindful parenting, and negative, small effects between mindfulness and children’s internalizing and externalizing difficulties. However, mindful parenting did not significantly mediate the link between mindfulness and children’s difficulties.Conclusions
Given the increasing attention on mindfulness in family settings, we discuss the results in relation to existing models of mindful parenting. Directions for future research are presented, including the use of observational or child-reported parenting measures and father samples.Meta-analysis Pre-registrationosf.io/dut8a
