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Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19

BACKGROUND: Stress can compromise parental well-being and may contribute to harsh and critical parenting styles, which are in turn associated with children's conduct problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related restrictions are likely to have exacerbated parental stress as, for many, U...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Burgess, Abigail, Cavanagh, Kate, Strauss, Clara, Oliver, Bonamy R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8692845/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34956647
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2021.1070
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author Burgess, Abigail
Cavanagh, Kate
Strauss, Clara
Oliver, Bonamy R.
author_facet Burgess, Abigail
Cavanagh, Kate
Strauss, Clara
Oliver, Bonamy R.
author_sort Burgess, Abigail
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Stress can compromise parental well-being and may contribute to harsh and critical parenting styles, which are in turn associated with children's conduct problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related restrictions are likely to have exacerbated parental stress as, for many, UK-based family life was altered considerably. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to improve stress management and emotion regulation when delivered to parents in person, however, more accessible online interventions are under-researched. AIMS: To provide preliminary data on family well-being and parent–child relationships as well as the acceptability and usability of the Headspace app – a self-delivered mindfulness-based intervention – for parents in low-risk families during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: We provided 12 parents with access to Headspace, and collected qualitative data (semi-structured interviews and 5 minute speech samples) immediately following the initial COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. The resulting transcripts were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Most parents reported Headspace to be acceptable and useful – improvements in parents’ own sleep were particularly noted – and there was high adherence to the intervention. However, difficulties related to family well-being and parent–child relationships following the lockdown were also reported. CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the confounding impact of COVID-19 restrictions, and varied access to app content, we were unable to determine any outcomes to be a result of practising mindfulness specifically. However, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on many UK-based families, including those previously at low risk, and our results demonstrate that Headspace may have beneficial effects for parents. There is a need to more rigorously test this tool with a broader range of families.
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spelling pubmed-86928452021-12-22 Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19 Burgess, Abigail Cavanagh, Kate Strauss, Clara Oliver, Bonamy R. BJPsych Open Papers BACKGROUND: Stress can compromise parental well-being and may contribute to harsh and critical parenting styles, which are in turn associated with children's conduct problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related restrictions are likely to have exacerbated parental stress as, for many, UK-based family life was altered considerably. Mindfulness has been demonstrated to improve stress management and emotion regulation when delivered to parents in person, however, more accessible online interventions are under-researched. AIMS: To provide preliminary data on family well-being and parent–child relationships as well as the acceptability and usability of the Headspace app – a self-delivered mindfulness-based intervention – for parents in low-risk families during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: We provided 12 parents with access to Headspace, and collected qualitative data (semi-structured interviews and 5 minute speech samples) immediately following the initial COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. The resulting transcripts were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Most parents reported Headspace to be acceptable and useful – improvements in parents’ own sleep were particularly noted – and there was high adherence to the intervention. However, difficulties related to family well-being and parent–child relationships following the lockdown were also reported. CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the confounding impact of COVID-19 restrictions, and varied access to app content, we were unable to determine any outcomes to be a result of practising mindfulness specifically. However, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on many UK-based families, including those previously at low risk, and our results demonstrate that Headspace may have beneficial effects for parents. There is a need to more rigorously test this tool with a broader range of families. Cambridge University Press 2021-12-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8692845/ /pubmed/34956647 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2021.1070 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Papers
Burgess, Abigail
Cavanagh, Kate
Strauss, Clara
Oliver, Bonamy R.
Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19
title Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19
title_full Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19
title_fullStr Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19
title_short Headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during COVID-19
title_sort headspace for parents: qualitative report investigating the use of a mindfulness-based app for managing parents’ stress during covid-19
topic Papers
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8692845/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34956647
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2021.1070
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