There’s a lot of talk about children’s mental health these days. We’ve all heard the stats: One in five children has a diagnosable mental health issue. Youth mental disorders rank second in hospital expenditure care. Despite all the attention this issue receives, the truth is many more children have milder but significant social, emotional, and behavioral problems that may go unnoticed by parents.
“The problem is many parents don’t see their children in the stats,” confirms Dr. Wendy Craig, a psychology professor at Queen’s University.
“They assume if their child had a mental health issue, they’d know about it.” Mental health is often considered an all-or-nothing issue. “The perception is that your child’s either fine or they’re suffering from serious mental illness.”
In fact, Craig explains, mental health should be viewed on a continuum, with extreme mental wellness or illness at each end.
As children develop, their mental wellbeing fluctuates. Genetics and biology aside, the degree to which kids slide to one extreme or the other throughout their lives depends largely on one important factor: The quality of their relationships.
Studies show that a positive parent-child relationship, in particular, may be the key to kids’ long-term mental wellness.
Unfortunately, it seems parents are missing out on fostering this significant mental health asset. In a recent global study comparing children’s well-being in 29 countries, North American kids lag in the bottom third for relationships with both parents and peers.
Parents need to understand they can buffer their kids against future mental health challenges, explains Craig. Where mental health is concerned, relationships matter and when it comes to kids’ mental health, parents’ relationships with their children matter the most.
