Parental depression can interfere with numerous aspects of parents’ lives, including parenting behaviors. Previous research has explored the relationship between past parental depression or current depressive symptoms and negative parenting behaviors. The current study investigates two models of mediation to explain the relationship between parental depression and parenting. In the first, it explores whether mindfulness mediates the relationship between past depression severity and three parenting behaviors: withdrawn/disengaged parenting, low levels of positive parenting and poor monitoring/supervision. In the second, it explores whether mindfulness mediates the relationship between current depressive symptoms and four parenting behaviors: withdrawn/disengaged parenting, low levels of positive parenting, poor monitoring/supervision and inconsistent discipline. The sample draws from two research sites, one in Burlington, Vermont and the other in Nashville, Tennessee and included previously or currently depressed parents (n=121; mean age = 42.5 years, SD = 7.40 years, range = 24-69), and their 9-15 year old children (n=167; mean age = 11.40 years, SD = 2.30 years, range = 9-15). All participating parents and children completed written measures at the time of their initial assessment. The overall findings of this study indicate that parents’ current depressive symptoms, but not past depression severity, increase the risk of low levels of positive parenting and parenting with greater inconsistent discipline, and that these associations are mediated by a parent’s level of mindfulness.

Av olika anledningar klarar inte alla föräldrar av att tillgodose sina barns behov vilket kan påverka barnen och deras utveckling negativt. För att få barnets perspektiv på hur det är att växa upp under sådana förhållanden genomför vi denna studie med syftet att få ökad kunskap och förståelse för hur det kan vara för ett barn att växa upp i en familj där föräldrar av olika anledningar brister i sin omsorgsförmåga. Det är en litteraturstudie baserad på självbiografier där numera vuxna personer retrospektivt beskriver hur de upplevt sin barndom. Vi har använt oss av narrativ metod eftersom det ger oss möjlighet att få en fördjupad förståelse av berättarens upplevelser. Våra resultat visar att det sker en förändring av roller i familjen och att barnen får axla mycket stort ansvar hemma. De tar hand om hushållet, syskon och även sina föräldrar. De upplever rädsla på grund av det oförutsägbara agerandet från sin förälder och utanförskap, speciellt i skolmiljö. Det sociala nätverkat kan vara avgörande för att stödja dem i deras liv och ge dem en positiv utveckling, tyvärr har samhället inte full ut kunnat ge dem det stöd de behöver. / For different reasons not all parents are capable of giving their children what they need and that may have a negative effect on children´s development. In order to get the children´s perspective we carry out this study. The aim of this study was to get more knowledge and understanding of children´s experiences of growing up in a family where the parenthood is lacking, based on autobiographies where now grownups describes their experiences of childhood in a retrospective. We use a narrative method because it allows us to reach a deeper understanding of their experiences. Our result shows that there i a change in roles in the family and that these children take on a big responsibility for their family and home. They take care of basic housework, their siblings and their parents. They experience fear because of the unpredictable behavior from their parents and alienation, especially in the school environment. The social network is crucial to support them and give their life and development a positive direction, but sorry to say the society haven´t been able to give them enough help.

Schema therapy is a leading contemporary approach to treating mental illness. The therapy integrally uses self-report measures of negative schemas (“long lasting patterns of emotions, cognitions and memories”), and the negative parenting patterns that are linked to the development of these schemas. However, the negative parenting measures are insufficient, and there are no corresponding measures of positive schemas or positive parenting patterns. Study 1 focused on the development of a measure for positive schemas, the Young Positive Schema Questionnaire (YPSQ). Study 2 focused on the development of a measure for positive parenting patterns, the Positive Parenting Schema Inventory (PPSI). Finally, Study 3 empirically showed that the subscales of the Young Parenting Inventory (YPI) were not robust, and it provided a revised alternative (YPI-R2). For all three studies combined, community samples (n = 204 to 628) were collected from five countries in Asia (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines) as well as the United States. The factor structure of the three instruments (the YPSQ, PPSI and YPI-R2) was stable in both Eastern and Western samples (in multigroup confirmatory factor analysis). All three scales showed prediction of mental health over and above what was possible with previous measures (incremental validity). The scales were not simply proxies for previously measured constructs (divergent validity). These scales also demonstrated significant associations with other established measures of parenting (construct validity). They also showed associations with negative schemas, well-being and ill-being (convergent validity). This thesis provides the tools needed to include a focus on positive as well as negative schemas and parenting patterns in both research and clinical practice. It also shows the benefits of so doing.