Informal Mindfulness Practices: A New Approach to the Prevention and Treatment of Parental Burnout

The present study assessed the effectiveness of informal mindfulness practice among parents in terms of parental burnout prevention and treatment. The objective was to test the new approach of informal mindfulness practice, the FOVEA program, implemented in daily activities rather than based on formal meditations. Indeed, traditional mindfulness programs (e.g., mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, MBSR) require a 45-min daily meditation practice which can be difficult to include in parents’ tight schedules, and even more for the parents suffering from or at risk of parental burnout. In contrast, the FOVEA program was designed to enhance the awareness of the present moment in ecological context mainly using the five senses and awareness of breath and body sensations. We tested the hypothesis that compared to the waitlist control group parents participating in the program would present a greater reduction of parental burnout scores following the intervention. The results revealed a statistically significant large effect of FOVEA intervention on parental burnout severity. There was a statistically significant decrease in parental burnout symptoms between T1 and T2 within the intervention group and no statistically significant difference in parental burnout within the waitlist control group. Thus, informal mindfulness practice seems to effectively prevent and reduce parental burnout.