The Association Between Parenting-Related Stress, Children's Neurodevelopmental Conditions, and Parents’ Mental Health
Open Access
- Author:
- Uchneat, Katherine
- Area of Honors:
- Biobehavioral Health
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Lori Anne Francis, Thesis Supervisor
Helen Marie Kamens, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Parenting Stress
Parent Mental Health
Family Functioning
Child Neurodevelopmental Condition - Abstract:
- Parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder may be at increased risk of having poor mental health conditions. The goal of this study was to explore risk factors that may increase parenting stress, the association between parenting stress and parents’ mental health, and factors that may buffer the effects of parenting stress on parents’ self-rated mental health. Participants included 63,660 parents from households with children ages 0-17 drawn from the 2019-2020 National Survey of Children’s Health. Several risk factors for parenting stress were examined, including children’s neurodevelopmental conditions, the degree to which a child’s condition affects their ability to do age-appropriate activities, children’s health status, parents’ physical health, and healthcare costs. Potential buffering factors included parents’ emotional support in parenting, family functioning, and neighborhood social capital. Results showed that all risk factors were associated with increased odds of parents reporting higher levels of parenting stress, and higher reports of parenting stress was associated with increased odds of parents reporting themselves to be in fair/poor mental health. Parents who reported higher parenting stress and lower levels of family functioning had 8-fold odds of reporting themselves to be in fair/poor mental health, compared to parents who reported high levels of family functioning. There were no significant buffering effects of parents’ reported emotional support or neighborhood social capital on the association between parenting stress and parents’ mental health status. This research can be used to further understand the risk factors and buffer factors that may moderate the relation between parenting stress and parents’ mental health, as well as provide direction for future interventions. Future research should explore more specific aspects of potential buffering factors.