Children's mental health and development rely on how parents handle their stress and parental duties.

Childhood is mythical as a time of wonder, exploration, and parental love, but is that always the case? Recent research is pointing in another direction, and it involves parental stress and its effect on children.

Although there are many benefits to being a parent, there are also many demands and difficulties, such as dealing with teenagers, sleepless nights, temper tantrums, financial challenges, and relationship problems. Parents of children younger than 18 regularly report higher levels of stress compared to the general population.

A study that examined data from the American Psychological Association’s Stress in America survey over a decade found that in 2023, one-third of parents reported high levels of stress, compared to a much smaller percentage of the general population (20%). While parents are experiencing more significant stress, what effect might it have on their children?

Roughly three million German children are living with a parent who suffers from a mental disorder. Compared to children whose parents do not have mental illness, those whose parents have a history of mental illness are three to seven times more likely to exhibit subclinical symptoms, have a lower quality of life concerning health, and have inferior academic achievement.

Aside from classroom activities, where parents may be most involved at home with homework, reading, and assignments, parental involvement may be vital in another area: extracurricular sports activities. The highly stressed parent may not provide this involvement.

Children who are involved in extracurricular activities outperform their non-participating classmates and face less of a disadvantage in the classroom. Parents ' participation in athletic activities is associated with improved academic performance in their children. How can sports activities contribute to a child’s development?

Sports act through the mediating role of higher well-being indicators, including mental toughness, strength-based coping techniques, and perseverance, which positively correspond to higher academic performance. Athletic participation is associated with cognitive abilities, self-confidence, competitive spirit, and a sense of duty.

While youth sports are encouraged for children and parents also value involvement, is there a point where sports exhibit a downside? Do sports activities have a downside, despite encouraging them for children and the value parents place on involvement? Such psychological effects will not go without consequences in the future.

Competing in athletic events has split opinion among experts. Some argue that it is too serious, too cutthroat, and too controlled by adults, while others claim it is great for teaching kids discipline and teamwork. Peer-reviewed research has also voiced concerns regarding the physiological and psychological pressures commonly linked to youth sports.

The Stressed Parent and Individual Children's Activities

Aside from not being capable, psychologically and physically, of encouraging, taking part in, and facilitating children's extracurricular activities, the highly stressed parent may promote disturbances in the children's psychological well-being. The situation has risen to such a height of concern that the US Surgeon General has provided a message, both of concern and of possible remediation for the stressed parent.

For all parents and caregivers to thrive, the advisory urges a change in culture, policy, and programs. As a nation, more must be done to help parents and caregivers by changing social mores to create an environment where these individuals are respected, valued, and given agency over their children and the challenges they face. This advisory expands upon previous efforts to guarantee families receive necessary assistance, such as advocating for more paid family leave, enhancing childcare and early childhood education, and providing unprecedented funding for mental health treatment.

Legislative reforms, community activities, and individual actions can help parents and caregivers ease stress and improve their mental health and well-being. The Surgeon General’s Advisory provides guidelines for stakeholders, including employers, neighborhoods, community groups, and schools.

The future of any country depends not on individuals alone, but family units, the manner in which parents are viewed, and in which children are raised. If we permit mental health issues to fester in parents in need, we are lighting a fire that will inflame children's abilities to progress and, instead, leave them in ashes.

The metaphor may be somewhat distressing, but so are the consequences of unintended or unattended mental health issues regarding parental stress. We owe it to our children, and we owe it to the parents who are raising them. Doing less is not acceptable in a country that has much to offer.