Bashaoor Tarbiyat-e-Aulad Program for Reducing Parenting Stress

Parenting stress is a significant risk factor for impaired parent-child relationships, reduced parental well-being, and adverse behavioral and emotional outcomes in children. Although mindfulness-based parenting interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing parenting stress and improving family functioning in many countries, evidence from Pakistan has been limited, and existing parenting interventions have primarily focused on modifying child behavior rather than improving parental self-regulation and mindful awareness.

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of Bashaoor Tarbiyat-e-Aulad (BTA), a culturally adapted Urdu version of the Mindful Parenting Program originally developed by Bögels and Restifo. Prior to the effectiveness trial, the intervention underwent systematic translation, cultural adaptation, pilot testing, and refinement to ensure linguistic, cultural, and religious appropriateness for Pakistani families. Adaptations included translation into Urdu, incorporation of culturally relevant examples, integration of Islamic concepts and Quranic verses where appropriate, replacement of yoga with mindful body stretches, and modification of home practice activities.

Study III employed a randomized controlled trial with a pretest-posttest waitlist control design. Mothers of children aged 6-11 years residing in Islamabad and Rawalpindi were recruited from the community through social media and personal contacts. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the waitlist control group.

The intervention consisted of nine structured group sessions designed to cultivate mindfulness in parenting, improve emotional awareness and regulation, increase parental self-compassion and competence, and reduce automatic and reactive parenting patterns. Participants in both groups completed standardized outcome measures at baseline and immediately following the intervention.

Primary outcomes included parenting stress, parenting competence, and mindful parenting. Secondary outcomes included self-compassion, couple satisfaction, marital satisfaction, mental well-being, dispositional mindfulness, and child behavioral and emotional problems. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, baseline equivalence testing, repeated-measures analysis of variance, and analyses adjusting for baseline differences to compare changes between the intervention and waitlist control groups.

Inclusion criteria

• Married mothers living with their spouses. Mothers of children (boys or girls) aged 6 to 11 years. Minimum educational qualification of matriculation with the ability to understand, read, and write Urdu.

Community (non-clinical) sample with no participant undergoing psychological treatment or taking psychotropic medication.

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals not living with their spouse. Parents of children outside the age range of 6 to 11 years. Individuals with less than a matriculation education or unable to understand, read, and write Urdu.

Participants currently receiving psychological treatment or taking psychotropic medication.