Mindful parenting mediates the association of family economic pressure with child adjustment: A longitudinal study

Economic pressure, that is, psychological stress due to not having enough money to deal with everyday expenses, represents a pressing concern for many families around the globe. Indeed, prior research has linked family economic pressure to academic, behavioral, and psychological problems among children. However, most work has been cross-sectional and used family socioeconomic status as an indicator of economic disadvantages. The longitudinal association of family economic pressure with child adjustment and the possible underlying mechanism have been less well-studied, especially among non-Western families with young children. Therefore, using a three-wave, 2-year design, this study examined the longitudinal associations of family economic pressure with child school readiness, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing behaviors among Chinese families and tested mother mindful parenting as a mediator. On three occasions separated by about 6 months, questionnaire data were collected from the mothers of 207 kindergarten children from Hong Kong, China (mean age of children at Time 1 = 4.98 years; 52% of them were girls). Mothers rated their family conditions, their parenting practices, and their children’s adjustment. Path analysis showed that family economic pressure was associated with decreases in child school readiness and increases in child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Moreover, decreases in mother mindful parenting partially mediated the longitudinal associations of family economic pressure with child school readiness and externalizing behaviors. Theoretically, findings highlighted the role of mindful parenting in understanding the possible implications of family economic pressure. Practically, findings pointed to the potential utility of targeting mindful parenting to support economically disadvantaged families. Copyright © 2025 American Psychological Association.