Mindful parenting, affective attunement, and maternal depression: A call for research

This paper introduces the construct of mindfulness and highlights research findings on the benefits of mindfulness-based clinical interventions. Drawing on the theoretical perspective of Daniel Stern (1985), mindfulness can be understood as a necessary prerequisite for the affective attunement that occurs within the intersubjective relatedness of mother and infant. The negative consequences of maternal depression are discussed, and the notion that maternal depression can prevent a mother from being mindful is suggested. The case is made that research is needed on child outcomes in ex-isting mindfulness-based interventions for adult depression, and that such empirically validated in-terventions should be modified for specific use with women experiencing antepartum and postpar-tum depression. Furthermore, mindfulness as a potential mechanism of change in dyadic interven-tions for this population should be examined. This paper also highlights the positive psychology view that interventions can focus on enhancing current strengths and need not focus solely on defi-cits. “Mindful parenting calls us to wake up to the possibilities, the benefits, and the challenges of parenting with new awareness and intentionality, not only as if what we di