Visions of the past: Mindfulness and cognitions enhance how our positive memories of parents are linked to present-day social relationships

Abstract

Research has consistently demonstrated the effect of positive parenting on young adults’ social outcomes. However, a vast number of factors can moderate this link. The present study examined whether trait mindfulness may be one moderator in the link between young adults’ recollections of parenting and their present-day social relationships. An undergraduate sample (N =580) was surveyed regarding their memories of parents’ positive parenting behaviours during their first 16 years of life, their levels of trait mindfulness, and the quality of current interpersonal relationships with friends, romantic partners, and siblings. Participants also provided narratives on their past vs. present perceptions of a negative parenting event from their childhood, and these narratives are being coded for adaptive cognitive change in perceptions of parenting. Preliminary analyses (N = 580, 83% women, Mage = 19.2 years, SDage = 2.3) indicated that mindfulness enhances the association between recalled positive parenting and positive social relationships. We expect that adaptive cognitive change about perceptions of parenting will serve a similarly enhancing role in this link. Our results are expected to show that both mindfulness and cognitions influence the way that recollections of parents’ parenting are related to young adults’ positive interpersonal relationships.

Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Hali Kil, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University