Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov;25(13):1931-1942.
doi: 10.1177/1087054720945023. Epub 2020 Jul 29.

Mindfulness for Children With ADHD and Mindful Parenting (MindChamp): A Qualitative Study on Feasibility and Effects

Nienke M Siebelink  1   2 , Shireen P T Kaijadoe  2 , Fylis M van Horssen  2 , Josanne N P Holtland  2 , Susan M Bögels  3 , Jan K Buitelaar  1   2 , Anne E M Speckens  4 , Corina U Greven  1   2   5
Affiliations

Mindfulness for Children With ADHD and Mindful Parenting (MindChamp): A Qualitative Study on Feasibility and Effects

Nienke M Siebelink et al. J Atten Disord. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: We describe qualitative results on facilitators and barriers to participating in a family mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for youth with ADHD and their parents and perceived effects on child and parent. Method: Sixty-nine families started the 8-week protocolized group-based MBI called "MYmind." After the MBI, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of parents (n = 20), children (n = 17, ages 9-16 years), and mindfulness teachers (n = 3). Interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory. Results: Facilitators and barriers regarding contextual factors (e.g., time investment), MBI characteristics (e.g., parallel parent-child training), and participant characteristics (e.g., ADHD-symptoms) are described. Perceived effects were heterogeneous: no/adverse effects, awareness/insight, acceptance, emotion regulation/reactivity, cognitive functioning, calmness/relaxation, relational changes, generalization. Conclusion: MYmind can lead to a variety of transferable positively perceived effects beyond child ADHD-symptom decrease. Recommendations on MYmind participant inclusion, program characteristics, mindfulness teachers, and evaluating treatment efficacy are provided.

Keywords: ADHD; child; mindfulness; parenting; qualitative research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: JB has been in the past 3 years a consultant to/member of advisory board of/and/or speaker for Takeda/Shire, Roche, Janssen, Medice, Angelini, and Servier. He is not an employee of any of these companies, and not a stock shareholder of any of these companies. He has no other financial or material support, including expert testimony, patents, royalties. SB is shareholder of UvA minds, in which MYmind is offered to families, provides teacher training in MYmind to professionals, and is the author of the MYmind guide for professionals and MYmind workbook for youth and parents. AS is the founder and clinical director of the Radboudumc Center for Mindfulness. The other authors declared that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Participant flow through the study. Note. RCT = randomized controlled trial; MBI = mindfulness-based intervention. aMBI participants were primarily families that were randomized to the intervention-group for the MindChamp RCT (RCT-MBI). If there were remaining places on the MBI, these were filled with families who had already completed the control-group of the RCT (RCT-control), and families that only participated in the qualitative study. bn = 6 discontinued. cReasons: lack of time and interest. dOf one family, both parents participated in the MBI and in the qualitative study. eReasons: lack of time and interest (n = 3), interviewing was considered too demanding for the children (n = 2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allan C., Chacko A. (2018). Adverse events in behavioral parent training for children with ADHD: An under-appreciated phenomenon. The ADHD Report, 26(1), 4–9. 10.1521/adhd.2018.26.1.4 - DOI
    1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
    1. Boeije H. (2016). Analyseren in kwalitatief onderzoek (2nd ed.). Boom uitgevers.
    1. Bögels S., Hoogstad B., van Dun L., de Schutter S., Restifo K. (2008). Mindfulness training for adolescents with externalizing disorders and their parents. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36(2), 193–209. 10.1017/S1352465808004190 - DOI
    1. Bögels S. M. (2020). MYmind. Mindfulness voor kinderen en jongeren met ADHD en hun ouders. Trainershandleiding. [MYmind. Mindfulness for youth with ADHD, and their parents: A guide for practitioners]. Amsterdam: Lannoo Campus.

Publication types