Effectiveness of Parent-Child Dyad Mindfulness Intervention on Migrant Families' Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background and Purpose: The growing socioeconomic exchanges between Hong Kong and Mainland China have prompted increases in cross-border marriages and Mainland residents moving to Hong Kong. Many of them migrated to unite with their families, but are at high risk for mental health and family relationship issues. Migration research has identified effective adjustment to new environments as a key predictor of migrants’ well-being, while recent research of mindfulness points to several conceptual links to greater adjustment. Mindfulness may enable migrants to learn new cultural skills with an openness to new experiences, and establish integrated dual cultural identity through enhanced cognitive flexibility. However, research has rarely explored the effects of mindfulness on migrant populations, and the role of mindfulness in migrants’ psychosocial adjustment has not been empirically examined. Additionally, since parent and child adjustment mutually influence each other and are equally important to building supportive family relationships, current mindfulness-based intervention research with migrants should adopt a family-based approach targeting parent and child simultaneously.

Methods: This study was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, General Research Fund (#17619721). Using a 2-arm randomized controlled design, this study examines the effectiveness of a parent-child dyad mindfulness intervention on parent, child, and family well-being of Chinese migrant families in Hong Kong. A total of 86 migrant parent-child dyads were randomly assigned to either an 8-week mindfulness intervention group (1 session/week, 2.5 hours/session) or a service-as-usual control group. The parents’ age Mean = 39 and on average lived in Hong Kong for 6 years; the children’s age Mean = 9 and on average lived in Hong Kong for 5 years. The majority (82%) of families were below the local median income threshold; 95% were mothers, 64% were girls. Parent and child mental health outcomes were assessed at baseline before randomization (T1), immediately after intervention (T2), and 6 months after posttest (T3).

Results: Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed significantly enhanced child behavioral cultural intelligence (d=0.29 at T2, d=0.50 at T3); enhanced parental sociocultural adjustment immediately after intervention (d=0.55 at T2, d=0.03 at T3); and reduced parental total depression, anxiety, and stress (d=0.13 at T2, d=0.32 at T3). In addition, the average attendance was 6 out of 8 sessions for parent-child dyads; average participant satisfaction was 4.02 out of 5 points. Parents considered the joint dyad activities most helpful (rated 4.3 out of 5 points), whereas the home practice was considered least helpful (rated 3.95 out of 5).

Conclusions and Implications: The findings suggest the beneficial effects of dyad mindfulness training in migrant families’ sociocultural adjustment and parental well-being, testing a previously unexamined mechanism in a high-risk yet under-studied population. The joint parent-child activities effectively boosted families’ attendance and engagement, but home practice remains challenging for the families. The findings provide further research directions and service recommendations to promote effective adjustment of migrant families in Hong Kong and beyond.