How important is parents’ mental health for children?
Caring for caregivers benefits both parents and children
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On my first flight, as an 8-year-old, I was surprised to hear the flight attendant tell parents to put on their own oxygen masks before helping their child. That seemed wrong to my young mind. Now, after decades of babysitting, supporting friends and family in their parenting journeys, and doing my own research, those instructions make sense to me. As in the plane analogy, parents’ own mental health is essential for the family’s wellbeing. To be the best versions of themselves, parents need time, support, and resources to take care of their mental health and create a healthy family environment.
“To be the best versions of themselves, parents need time, support, and resources to take care of their mental health.”
The importance of the early years
During the first few years of life, children grow and develop rapidly as they build attachments with their parents and explore the world around them. At the same time, parents are navigating the joys and stresses of parenthood. Young families are sensitive to positive (and negative) shocks in their environment, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a large study in Uruguay, 4- to 6-year-olds who were in preschool in 2019-2020 – and thus had their education disrupted by COVID-19 lockdowns – had poorer comprehension, speaking, early literacy, and basic mathematics skills than 4- to 6-year-olds who were in preschool a year earlier.
The children who were in preschool during the pandemic were also more anxious and avoidant, which the study authors suggest could be explained by increased parenting stress Although this study did not measure parent outcomes, there are clear links between parents’ mental health and children’s development and mental health, particularly in the first years of a child’s life.
Why parental mental health matters
According to the World Health Organization, mental health is “a state of mental wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.” Most research on the impact of parental mental health on parents’ wellbeing and children’s development has focused on the negative dimensions of mental health.
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health challenges for parents, and they can make it harder for parents to care for both themselves and their children. A parent experiencing depressive symptoms may have no interest in the social activities or hobbies they previously enjoyed, which can lead to isolation. They may also be overwhelmed with negative thoughts about their child and respond more harshly to the child’s requests.
“Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health challenges for parents.”
Although it is important to understand these conditions, focusing on negative dimensions of mental health misses the critical role of positive mental health. Just as physical health is not merely the absence of illness, good mental health is not merely the absence of mental health difficulties. People who are not experiencing depressive symptoms may still not be fully able to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.
I explored these issues in my recent work in Ghana, using data collected from mothers and fathers of 6- to 60-month-olds in 750 households. We found that when parents reported strong feelings of happiness, life satisfaction, community belonging, and contribution to society, their children had better mental health outcomes, for example in the areas of emotion regulation and healthy social interactions. When we asked a group of about 80 parents and community members in the same communities what helped them maintain good mental health, they pointed to strong social support and financial stability.
Strategies for supporting parental mental health
There are proven strategies to reduce mental health difficulties in parents. UNICEF’s Caring for the Caregiver package teaches frontline workers like nurses, social workers, and educators how to support parental mental health by building trusting relationships with parents, assessing their needs, and planning a counselling response to address those needs.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting parental mental health.”
In this package, parents are encouraged to engage in self-care, relaxation, and pleasurable activities that make them feel good. The package also includes activities that target the environment around parents. For example, one activity leverages the blanket as a symbol of comfort, warmth, protection and security: the frontline worker wraps a caregiver in a blanket and uses it as a metaphor to describe the importance of feeling cared for and understanding that you can care for others even when you are facing your own adversities. A recent study in six countries found that parents and caregivers who received the Caring for the Caregiver package had a greater sense of self-efficacy and more social support, as well as lower levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms and parenting stress.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting parental mental health. What matters is that parents are afforded the time and resources – through community and institutional supports – to put on their masks first so that they can better care for themselves and their families.
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