THE ASSOCIATION OF MINDFUL PARENTING WITH PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S PROBLEM BEHAVIORS: PARENTAL PHUBBING AS A MEDIATOR

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between mindful parenting, parental phubbing, and child problem behaviors and to determine whether parental phubbing mediates the link between mindful parenting and child problem behaviors. 142 Chinese parents with children aged 3 to 5 years provided self-reports on their levels of mindful parenting, parental phubbing, and their children’s internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. The results showed that parents high in mindful parenting reported less parental phubbing and lower frequency of children’s externalizing problem behaviors. Parents high in phubbing reported more children’s externalizing problem behaviors. Mediation analysis indicated that mindful parenting indirectly alleviated reports of children’s externalizing problem behaviors through parental phubbing. Overall, the present study provided empirical evidence that mindful parents experience fewer externalizing problem behaviors in their children and engage in less parental phubbing. Furthermore, parental phubbing mediates the association between mindful parenting and children’s external problem behaviors.