This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Parents of children with mental health problems may experience stigma when the ideals that matter most to being considered a "good parent" are perceived as not being met, according to preliminary research led by Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. Discussions with a group of these parents are helping inform new approaches to supporting parents and restoring more positive feelings about parenting skills when faced with a child's mental health struggles.
The study, published in Psychiatric Services, identified qualities that may contribute to parents feeling more secure and respectable in raising their child, including emotional support, open communication, boundaries and role modeling. The researchers suggest that supporting parents in fulfilling these qualities can help parents feel less self-blame and stigmatization for their child's mental health problems. "To support children, we also need to support parents," said the study's first author Dr.
Tim Becker, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and a child psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health's Nichols Cottage, an inpatient unit for adolescents. "A better understanding of parents' experiences with the stigma surrounding a child's mental health enables clinicians to more effectively help parents, and more empowered parents likely lead to better outcomes for children." Prior research has found that parental stigma is related to greater parental depression and lower quality of life and can limit the parent's willingness to seek help for their child, added Becker, who is also an adjunct assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. For the current study, researchers conducted interviews with 24 parents who had a child with ADHD, depression or substance use problems.
Becker led the study as a research fellow in the Shaffer Scholars Program in Child Psychiatry Research at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Participants discussed what factors made them feel respected as a "good parent," how their child's mental health problems threatened this respect and contributed to parental stigma by undermining their identity as a good parent, and how they tried to manage and reduce this stigma and maintain a positive self-identity. Participants described stigma as arising from their struggles to meet the core ideals of good parenting.
These included emotionally supporting their child, maintaining open communication with their child, establishing appropriate boundaries, serving as a positive role model and contributing to their child's overall well-being. "A number of participants spoke passionately about feeling like there is not a lot of support for parents," Becker said. "They felt like they were being isolated and looked down upon." Parents often felt judged by relatives, teachers, neighbors and health care providers for not doing enough to prevent or address their child's mental health issues, he added.
When creating a care plan for a child with mental health challenges, clinicians should consider the stigma parents may be experiencing because it can lead to distress and self-doubt about their parenting abilities and undermine engagement in treatment. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly. Traditionally, work to reduce stigma focuses on psychoeducation, in which clinicians provide parents with an explanation of their child's condition, its symptoms and treatments, Becker said.
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