Mindfulness-Informed Parenting Interventions for Parents and Caregivers of Children with Atypical Development: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Parents and caregivers of children with atypical development often experience high levels of stress and reduced well-being. This scoping review mapped the literature on mindfulness-informed parenting interventions for this population, focusing on intervention types, methodological features, outcomes, and the integration of spirituality and religiosity. Reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR, a comprehensive search of Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and MyCite, with updated search alerts, identified 49 eligible studies. The evidence based was concentrated in North America and Europe, and hybrid mindfulness-informed interventions and mindful parenting programmes were the most common. Parent outcomes were more consistently positive than child outcomes, but the literature remained methodologically heterogeneous, and only one study explicitly integrated spirituality or religiosity. Future research should prioritise more rigorous and culturally responsive intervention development.