New research indicates that parenting programs designed to enhance both mental health and parenting skills can positively impact children’s growth, but they often lack effective mental health support for parents.
“It’s a surprising contradiction,” stated the lead author of the study, Marilyn Ahun, an Assistant Professor in McGill University’s Department of Medicine. “Our research highlights the promise of multi-faceted programs while also pointing out the shortcomings that require attention.”
The research team examined and assessed 25 studies conducted globally, collaborating with scholars from Harvard, Kuwait, and Emory universities.
In their findings published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, the researchers discovered that children under the age of three whose parents participated in integrated programs showed greater emotional and cognitive development than those who received no assistance. However, mothers did not experience significant relief from their depressive symptoms. The authors noted that there is insufficient research on how these programs affect fathers’ depression.
These insights could guide the creation of programs that provide better support to parents and their young children, especially considering the critical period when children’s brains are highly responsive to their experiences. They emphasized that although children gained benefits from parental support in child-rearing, a parent’s mental health significantly impacts their parenting approach and the resultant outcomes for their children.
Shortcomings in parental mental health support
Parenting programs aimed at supporting young children typically focus on either parenting skills or mental health. In programs that combine both aspects, the majority of the focus is still on parenting skills, according to the study’s authors.
“Many of these initiatives dedicate only one or two sessions to mental health, which is insufficient for parents who are in distress,” remarked Ahun, who is also a Junior Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
“This is particularly alarming since approximately one in four mothers and one in ten fathers experience depression during the perinatal period, hindering their ability to provide the nurturing care their children require,” she emphasized.
Given that over 250 million children globally are not reaching their developmental potential, the researchers believe that their findings shed light on how to enhance family support during this vital stage of early childhood growth.
