Mindful parenting is not a new concept to the literature. In fact, as Anālayo (2021)) has illustrated in his paper, principles of mindful parenting can be seen as early as the Pāli Canon, with many parallels observed between the Buddha’s teachings and the modern pioneering work of Kabat-Zinn and Kabat-Zinn (1997). With substantial evidence supporting the connection between mindfulness practices and improved health outcomes, it was inevitable that there would be empirical shifts towards how these practices could be cultivated and applied to everyday family life. Indeed, we have seen a rapid increase in mindful parenting empirical research since Dumas’ (2005) seminal work calling for increased attention to how mindfulness can enhance the family system and intervention program (see Fig. 1). In particular, over the last two decades, mindful parenting has emerged as a promising mechanism of change in families impacted by various intra- and interpersonal challenges, including elevated parenting stress (e.g., Bögels et al. 2014; Chaplin et al. 2021), youth behavioral difficulties (e.g., Brown et al. 2021; Potharst et al. 2021a; Singh et al. 2021), and coparenting dysfunction (e.g., Bögels et al. 2014). Despite increasing attention, however, systematic reviews have highlighted the need for increased methodological rigor, citing small sample sizes, lack of randomization, and single-informant reporting as barriers to mindful parenting becoming a well-established contributor to parent and youth mental well-being (e.g., Burgdorf et al. 2019; Townshend et al. 2016). While such limitations are due, at least in part, to the comparatively nascent status of this work, these critiques have been helpful in shedding light on needed areas for improvement that are imperative to the advancement of mindful parenting research.
