Family Predictors of Child Mental Health Conditions

Abstract

Research suggests that minority children with one mental health condition are more likely than White children to have a secondary mental health condition. However, there are no current studies that test the interaction between race and family resources to examine this apparent racial difference in mental health conditions in children. Yet research suggests that family resources vary by race/ethnicity. This study examines the interaction between family structure and socioeconomic status by race and ethnicity to understand how it predicts the number of mental health conditions among children. Our findings are consistent with the existing literature that children in resource-poor families (single parent, step-parent families, and lower income families) have higher counts of mental health conditions. Yet we also found that children in resource-rich families (two-parent biological families with higher levels of income) in some cases also had higher counts of mental health conditions and this varied by race/ethnicity.

Family Characteristics as Determinants of Mental Health in Adolescents

“…Although a lower educational status of the parents is usually associated with lower mental health in some studies (APA 2020;Nguyen et al 2017), the results of our research did not confirm this, except in the part where higher levels of stress and depression are expressed by adolescents whose fathers have a lower level of education. It is possible that the fathers' lower level of education is associated with lower family incomes, which can cause negative reactions from adolescents who express ever-growing needs in financial terms, and if the latter cannot be met, this can be an additional source of difficulty for adolescents.…”

“…Socioeconomic status is most often viewed as a family variable and is considered an important protective and risk factor for health in general, and thus for mental health. It has a significant impact on the child's physical, social, and cognitive development (Nguyen et al 2017;Ordóñez & Collins 2015;Lund et al 2011). Low socioeconomic status (SES), indicated by lower household income, educational status, and poverty, is associated with a greater risk of developing a mental and behavioural disorder than in children and adolescents of middle or high SES (Reiss 2013).…”

Mental health symptoms in children and adolescents during COVID-19 in Australia

“…Pandemic aside, risk factors known to be associated with poor youth mental health generally include coming from a low income (Wickham et al, 2017) or single parent household (Nguyen et al, 2017), being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (Zubrick et al, 2005), having a neurodevelopmental condition or special need (Hansen et al, 2018), having a chronic physical health condition (Pinquart and Shen, 2011a;2011b), or having a parent with a mental health disorder (Lawrence et al, 2019). There are also differences across gender and MENTAL HEALTH OF AUSTRALIAN YOUTH DURING COVID-19 5 age with respect to risk for youth mental health problems.…”

“…Pandemic aside, risk factors known to be associated with poor child and adolescent mental health generally include coming from a low-income (Wickham et al, 2017) or single-parent household (Nguyen et al, 2017), identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (Zubrick et al, 2005), having a neurodevelopmental condition (Hansen et al, 2018), having a chronic physical health condition (Pinquart and Shen, 2011a, 2011b) or having a parent with a mental health disorder (Lawrence et al, 2019). Males are more likely to have any mental health disorder across childhood and adolescence compared to females, although during adolescence, females are more likely to experience anxiety or depression than males (Lawrence et al, 2015).…”