Masters Thesis

Tools for well-being: a comprehensive evaluation on the efficacy of a mindfulness approach for families involved in the child welfare system

Although mindfulness-based therapy has recently become a popular, little is known about its efficacy, especially when dealing with families in the child welfare system. For this purpose the developers of the curriculum conducted an exploratory research that involved participants currently engaged in a child welfare case. The guiding questions for this quantitative study were: Does the content create usable skills for parents involved in the child welfare system? and What are the levels of mindfulness (as a factor contributing to subjective well being) of participants upon completing the program? The research was conducted over a period of eight weeks exposing the participants to different methods and tools that would enhance their well-being through these mindful practices. Following each session, the participants completed an evaluation survey (MAAS) that would measure the effectiveness of the session and its effect on their mindful practices at home. Following the final session, the participants completed a final survey that would measure their current mindful state following the intervention. The research concluded that the participants found the curriculum helpful and valued the tools that were presented during the individual sessions. Furthermore, the MAAS survey revealed that the current mindfulness state of the participants was rather high as compared to the normative scores provided by the MAAS creators. The results suggest that a mindfulness-based practice can be effectively presented to parents involved in child welfare and it can have a positive effect in enhancing their well-being.

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