A new open-access paper using data from the Co-SPACE study examines how parents’ and children’s mental health symptoms influenced one another over time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most research looks at these relationships in one direction – usually how parents affect children. This study goes further by exploring whether influences also run from children to parents (and vice versa), and whether these patterns differ by age.
What did the study do?
Researchers analysed data from over 2,300 UK parent–child pairs, collected at four points between May 2020 and May 2021. Children were aged 4-16 years, allowing comparisons between younger children and adolescents.
What did the study find?
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For younger children (4-10 years), parents’ mental health was particularly important. Higher levels of parent anxiety or low mood predicted increases in children’s emotional difficulties over time. There was no evidence that changes in younger children’s mental health affected parents’ mental health.
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For adolescents (11-16 years), relationships were more mutual. Parents’ mental health and adolescents’ behavioural and emotional difficulties influenced each other over time, suggesting growing reciprocity as children get older.
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These patterns were similar for boys and girls.
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While some two-way influences were found in adolescence, there was no evidence of ongoing feedback loops that continued across multiple time points.
Why does this matter?
The findings highlight the importance of developmentally tailored mental health support:
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Supporting parent mental health may be especially beneficial for families with younger children.
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For adolescents, approaches that recognise the mutual impact of parent and young person mental health may be more effective.
Read the full paper
The paper, Understanding bidirectional and transactional relations in parent and offspring mental health, is available open access via JCPP Advances.