Kira Thoenes

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Cottrell, Catherine

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Parenting practices can strongly shape a child’s personality and behavior well into adulthood. Mindfulness as a trait, the tendency to focus attention on the present moment in a nonjudgmental way, has been associated with positive mental health outcomes, yet little is known about the potential impact parenting practices in childhood may have on an individual’s mindfulness throughout adulthood. The current study collected an online sample of 217 participants to assess the relationship between participant mindfulness and the parenting styles of participants’ primary and secondary caregivers during childhood. Mindfulness was assessed using the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), with higher scores indicating greater mindfulness. Parenting styles for the primary and secondary caregivers were assessed using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ), adapted from its original version to be a retroactive assessment of the caregivers from the participants’ perspective. The use of the authoritative parenting style was positively correlated with participant mindfulness. The use of authoritarian parenting style was negatively correlated with participant mindfulness. Inconsistent with hypotheses, the use of permissive parenting style was negatively correlated with participant mindfulness. These findings indicate that there is a relationship between parenting styles and mindfulness.

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