Effects of mindfulness cultivation on childcare in mothers with children with developmental disorders

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K13118
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 09030:Childhood and nursery/pre-school education-related
• Research Institution: Nagoya City University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuki Taro 名古屋市立大学, 医薬学総合研究院(医学), 助教 (70804920)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 発達障害 / マインドフルネス・トレーニング / ペアレント・トレーニング / 育児感情 / 主観的幸福感 / 子どもの発達 / スマホアプリ / ランダム化比較試験

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial with a parent training (PT) group and a mindfulness training (MT) group in which mothers with developmentally disabled children practiced the respective training for 8 weeks using a smartphone app. Our results showed that the sense of parenting burden decreased among mothers in the MT group, while the senses of positivity toward parenting and subjective well-being increased among mothers in the PT group. Child behavioral problems were reduced in the MT group and hyperactivity/inattention was reduced in the PT group. On the other hand, we also found that the increased observation of the children made the mothers aware of problematic behaviors in their children that they had not noticed before. These results suggest that the two types of training using a smartphone app have different effects.

Free Research Field

発達心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究より、マインドフルネス・トレーニングのスマホアプリでの実践は、発達障害児の母親の育児負担等の軽減につながることが示唆された。また、ペアレント・トレーニングのスマホアプリでの実践は、育児肯定感の上昇等、マインドフルネス・トレーニングとは異なるポジティブな効果が得られることが示唆された。これらの結果は、現在広く普及したスマートフォンで手軽に各トレーニングの効果が得られる可能性を実証的に示した点で、学術的・社会的意義があると言える。