Burgess, Abigail; (2023) Headspace for parents: Using a mindfulness app to manage parenting stress. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Parenting stress can influence children’s psychological adjustment. Some evidence suggests parenting stress is associated with, and ameliorated by, parental mindfulness. This thesis aimed to determine the magnitude and meaning of associations between parenting stress, parental mindfulness, and children’s adjustment outcomes. It is proposed child outcomes may improve following improvements in parental wellbeing by practising mindfulness. To test this, the effectiveness of a self-directed mindfulness app (Headspace—the collaborative partner) was evaluated with parents of children aged 2-5. Three projects addressed these aims. Project 1 scoped research investigating mindfulness and parenting, identifying gaps for digital, self-directed mindfulness interventions for parents of typically developing children. Project 2 aimed to address these gaps using a mixed methods approach to investigate the initial effectiveness of Headspace, aiming to understand the app’s acceptability and feasibility in parents’ daily lives. The qualitative results of Project 2 were preliminarily published in BJPsych Open, and are expanded on in Chapter 4. Due to confounding by COVID-19 (see review, Appendix O), the quantitative results of this project were not published but are described here in Chapter 5. Project 3 was intended to determine the feasibility of a more robust study testing Headspace, using an internal pilot randomised controlled trial design (see Chapter 6). Overall, this thesis suggests parents generally found Headspace feasible and acceptable, and some improvements were noted for wellbeing in both Projects 2 and 3. Qualitative reports indicated improvements in parental sleep and ability to manage stress, and—with caution—some quantitative support was found for improvements in sleep post-intervention in Project 3. Limited evidence for improvements in children’s adjustment were found, however, this thesis demonstrates the potential of Headspace for parent wellbeing. Future research might benefit from investigating relationships between parental mindfulness and sleep, particularly its potential to improve parents’ stress perceptions, in more diverse samples.

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