The impact of mindfulness on the quality of parenting behaviors and reported parental stress of newly parenting mothers in medication assisted treatment for opioid dependence: Results and policy implications for federal spending
Abstract
Research into the quality of parenting behaviors of newly parenting mothers in Medication Assisted Treatment for opioid dependence (MAT) is growing, yet limited. This population is at high risk for maladaptive parenting and high parenting stress, affecting the healthy development of their children. The present quasi experimental study aimed to: 1) characterize the psychosocial factors that influence the quality of parenting behaviors of mothers in outpatient MAT, 2) assess the quality of parenting by using the Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale (KIPS) and Parenting Stress Index (PSI), 3) test the impact of an adapted Mindfulness Based Parenting (MBP) intervention on the quality of parenting behaviors and parenting stress of mothers in MAT, 4) test if exposure to childhood trauma ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience score) moderates the relationship between MBP intervention and outcome and 5) analyze the intervention using a Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to assess the sustainability and public health impact of the intervention. This study was a pretest posttest design using 2 study arms, with repeated measures of assessing the quality of parenting behavior and parental stress before and after the intervention. Forty women between 28 weeks gestation and 36 months post-delivery were recruited from Family Center in Philadelphia, PA. The MBP intervention consisted of 12 weekly 2-hour group sessions. Results showed this parenting population had low quality parenting behavior, high parenting stress, and significant ACE burden. The MBP intervention resulted in improved quality of parenting behavior scores. ACE was found to be a moderator in the relationship between KIPS difference score from pre to post and the grouping variable (intervention/control). The RE-AIM evaluation found several barriers and assets to the implementation and maintenance of the program and provided useful suggestions for replication of this intervention to other sites. Given the recent expansions to Medicaid and funding allocations attributed to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act such as testing innovative early intervention models that focus on supportive rather than supplemental parenting, the results of this model show promise in supporting the parenting of mothers in MAT for opioid dependence.
Subject Area
Public health
Recommended Citation
Gannon, Meghan, "The impact of mindfulness on the quality of parenting behaviors and reported parental stress of newly parenting mothers in medication assisted treatment for opioid dependence: Results and policy implications for federal spending" (2015). ProQuest ETD Collection - Thomas Jefferson University. AAI3742958.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/dissertations/AAI3742958
