Exploring the link between maternal attachment-related anxiety and avoidance and mindful parenting: The mediating role of self-compassion.

The results underline the important role of mothers' attachment on levels of mindful parenting and evidence different pathways through which attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance are associated with this parental skill. Higher levels of attachment avoidance were directly associated with lower levels of mindful parenting, whereas higher levels of anxiety were indirectly associated with lower levels of mindful parenting through lower levels of self-compassion. Mothers who are more self-compassionate are more able to adopt a mindful stance in the parent-child relationship. Parenting interventions aimed at promoting mindfulness skills in the parenting context can benefit from including self-compassionate exercises and are particularly important for insecurely attached parents.