The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Improving the Mental Health of Parents of Children with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
An 8-week mindfulness course for parents reliably lowers their stress and lifts the parent-child relationship.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yang et al. (2025) looked at 14 studies with 1,078 parents.
All parents had a child with an intellectual or developmental disability.
Each study tested an 8-week mindfulness class that parents took without their kids.
What they found
The classes cut parent stress, sadness, and worry by a medium amount.
Parents also said they got along better with their child after the course.
The gains stayed for months after the last class ended.
How this fits with other research
Bigham et al. (2013) warned that mindfulness for people with ID rests on weak proof. Tingting et al. now show the same idea works when you give it to parents instead.
Dai et al. (2023) found CBT lowers anxiety in clients with mild ID, but the proof is thin. Parent mindfulness gives you a second, better-supported tool that helps the whole family.
HilMedeiros et al. (2015) and Totsika et al. (2014) both say the parent-child bond predicts fewer behavior problems. Tingting’s results prove you can strengthen that bond with a short, replicable class.
Why it matters
You now have solid data that an 8-week parent-only mindfulness group is worth running. It lowers parent stress and boosts the parent-child relationship without extra meds or hours of 1:1 therapy. Add the class to your parent-training menu and watch for calmer caregivers and smoother sessions.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in improving the mental health of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), specifically focusing on outcomes such as parental stress, anxiety, depression, and parent-child relationships. A systematic search was conducted across multiple databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and others, up to December 2024. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed bias risk using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Studies involving parents of children with intellectual or developmental disabilities who received mindfulness-based interventions and reported psychological outcomes were included. The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4 software, with a random effects model applied. This systematic review included 15 studies (1124 participants), of which 14 were used for meta-analysis (1078 participants). The results indicate that mindfulness-based interventions reduced the stress levels [SMD = - 0.26, 95% CI (- 0.49, - 0.04)], depressive symptoms [SMD = - 0.37, 95% CI (- 0.66, - 0.08)], distress [SMD = - 0.26, 95% CI (- 0.43, - 0.09)] and anxiety symptoms[SMD = - 0.35, 95% CI (- 0.66, - 0.04)] of parents of children with IDDs, while also improving parent-child relationships [SMD = - 0.32, 95% CI (- 0.05, - 0.58)], although the effects were moderate. Subgroup analyses revealed that interventions lasting 8 weeks or more [SMD =- 0.41, 95% CI (-0.67, -0.14)] and those targeting only the parents [SMD = - 0.26, 95% CI (- 0.44, - 0.08)] showed some positive effects in improving parent-child relationships or parent stress. Mindfulness-based interventions appear to have a positive effect on improving the mental health of parents of children with IDDs. However, the evidence of their effectiveness in enhancing parental mindfulness remains inconclusive. Future studies should consider the key factors influencing intervention implementation and optimize the design of large-scale randomized controlled trials to systematically and comprehensively assess the effectiveness and applicability of mindfulness-based interventions.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s12671-021-01728-z