Adults' Environment and Behavior: Mental Health of Parents

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Note: The Portable Document Format (PDF) of this report includes all tables and charts.

The text below is a portion of the complete document.

A child's well-being depends in part upon the mental health of his or her parents. If a parent's mental health is compromised, he or she may be less able to nurture, love, care for, and pay attention to the child. Several studies indicate that single mothers on welfare with young children are at considerable risk of exhibiting symptoms of depression. Parents with such symptoms provide less emotional support and tend to employ harsh disciplinary practices. Further, children of depressed parents exhibit more behavioral problems, frequently display deficits in social and academic competence, and are in poorer physical health than children of nondepressed parents.

It is not certain how changes in welfare programs will affect the mental health of parents. Mental health may worsen if parents have difficulty obtaining or keeping a job or if they have difficulty complying with more demanding welfare program rules. On the other hand, mental health may improve if a parent's job enhances family income or the parent's social contacts. The effects may not become apparent until after parents have taken on new employment or reached welfare time limits.

Parents were asked to rate their feelings of anxiety and depression, loss of behavioral or emotional control, and psychological well-being during the past month. A score of 67 or less out of 100 points was considered indicative of poor mental health.

Nationally, 17 percent of children lived with a parent whose survey responses suggested poor mental health. Of children in families with low incomes (below 200 percent of the poverty level), 25 percent lived with a parent who had symptoms of poor mental health, compared to only 10 percent of children in families with higher incomes, a statistically significant difference. Children of parents without a spouse were significantly more likely than other children to be living with a parent in poor mental health—28 percent versus 13 percent.

In the 13 states surveyed, 13 percent to 24 percent of all children lived with a parent who exhibited symptoms of poor mental health. Three states had higher percentages than the national average: Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. Five states had percentages below the national average: Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Of children in low-income families, 20 percent to 34 percent lived with a parent whose responses suggested poor mental health. The percentage of low-income children living with a parent in poor mental health was higher than the national average in Massachusetts, Mississippi, and New Jersey. The percentage was below the national average in Colorado and Washington.

In low-income families where the parent did not have a spouse, 24 percent to 40 percent of children lived with a parent who had symptoms of poor mental health. The percentage was above the national average in Mississippi and New Jersey. In Washington, it was below average.

The five-item mental health scale (MHI-5) was constructed for the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) using questions from the 38-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI). Ware, J.E., and D.C. Sherbourne. 1992. The MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Medical Care 30:473-81.

Note: The Portable Document Format (PDF) of this report includes all tables and charts.

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Usage, posting and reprint of materials on the UI web site:

Most publications may be downloaded free of charge from the web site in PDF format. This information may be used and copies made for research, academic, policy or other non-commercial purposes. Proper attribution is required.

Copyright of the written materials contained within the Urban Institute website is owned or controlled by the Urban Institute. Posting UI research papers on other websites is permitted subject to prior approval from the Urban Institute—contact paffairs@urban.org.

If you are unable to access or print the PDF document please contact us or call the Publications Office at (202) 261-5687.