Fam Relat. 2025 Apr;74(2):583-601. doi: 10.1111/fare.13123. Epub 2024 Dec 11.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to examine parental mental health and parenting practices during the pandemic and their association with perceptions of adolescent mental health 2 months later.
BACKGROUND: Pandemic stress led to greater parental and adolescent mental health issues, including ineffective parenting practices. Parent-adolescent relationship quality may protect parental perceptions of adolescent mental health against ineffective parenting, though few have examined this link.
METHOD: In a sample of West Texas parents and caregivers (N = 194; 46% women) of adolescents (Mage = 14.2; 35% girls), longitudinal structural equation models were used to separately explore parental perceptions of adolescent depression and anxiety due to COVID-19 stress on parental psychopathology and parenting practices, and the protective role of parent-adolescent relationship quality.
RESULTS: Depression and anxiety models showed transmission from parents to parental perceptions of adolescent’s mental health occurred through distinct parenting practices. Parent-adolescent relationship quality ameliorated the effect of inconsistent discipline on later parental perceptions of adolescent depression and anxiety.
CONCLUSIONS: Parental mental health and parenting practices can act as mechanisms between their chronic stress experiences and their perceptions of their adolescent child’s mental health.
IMPLICATIONS: Promoting mental health resources and parent-adolescent relationship quality may offset the transmission of negative mental health from parents to their adolescents.
PMID:40375855 | PMC:PMC12077605 | DOI:10.1111/fare.13123
