Most of us know that parents’ mental and emotional states have major impacts on their kids. But a 2023 study shows that it might not affect children the way we assume, and that it works very differently between moms and dads.
Researchers actually found that slightly anxious and depressed dads provide a benefit to their kids. They grow up smarter and with more self-control than their peers. The same was not true for moms. And while the study findings were unexpected, researchers stressed that good mental health should always be a priority for parents because it models self-care and wellness for their kids.
New research shows that ‘slightly’ anxious and depressed dads raise kids who are smarter and more well-behaved.
We’ve known for years now that parents’ mental health issues can have multi-faceted deleterious effects on their children. Research from 2021 found that 1 in 14 children aged 0-17 had at least one parent with poor mental health, and there is a direct correlation with not only poor mental health in their children but poor physical health too.
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However, research sheds more light on the issue and has found that in some cases, certain mental health issues might actually benefit kids. The 2023 study conducted by several Canadian universities that focused on 61 kids, 36 boys and 25 girls, looked at how fathers’ anxiety and depression, both during pregnancies and when their children were between the ages of six and eight, impacted the kids’ behavior.
Fascinatingly, the results completely ran counter to the researchers’ own hypothesis. They fully expected anxious and depressed dads to negatively impact their kids. What their study found was just the opposite.
The study found that kids of anxious and depressed dads had better attention spans, higher IQs, and more self-control.
According to a questionnaire researchers had parents fill out, kids with depressed dads were observed to be able to sit still for longer periods, lose their temper less often, and have much longer attention spans.
Standardized test scores also indicated that these children had higher IQs than children whose fathers did not suffer anxiety or depression. The researchers believe this may be related to previous studies which have shown higher parental attunement benefits kids’ mental and emotional functioning.
Parental attunement refers to parents’ awareness and responsiveness to their child’s emotional state and needs. The researchers theorize that anxious and depressed dads’ own mental and emotional struggles might make them more empathetic toward their kids, and thus have better parental attunement.
The same is not true of anxious and depressed moms, however, whose mental health issues have been shown to have deeply negative impacts.
As always, moms, unfortunately, don’t get a break here. An extensive body of research shows that maternal anxiety and depression have myriad negative impacts on children, including a higher risk of developmental issues and mental illness later in life.
Maternal anxiety and depression even impact children while in utero. The flood of moms’ stress hormones while her fetus is gestating has been shown to create an increased risk of anxiety and depression, behavioral problems, and even autism.
Severe stress in the first trimester, such as extreme trauma or natural disasters, has been shown to increase the risk of mental illnesses like schizophrenia.
The Canadian researchers, however, theorize that the benefits of anxious and depressed dads might be a mechanism for canceling out those negative impacts.
Speaking to ScienceDaily, McGill University associate professor and co-author of the Canadian study, Tina Montreuil, explained, “One potential explanation is that the fathers in our study sample may have shown greater attunement to their child to ‘compensate’ for environmental risk factors, such as maternal depressive or anxiety symptoms, or other known predictors.”
The study’s authors acknowledge that their findings run counter to those of most prior studies and that more research needs to be done on the relationship between paternal mental health and child development.
Still, it should be a comfort to parents to know that their personal struggles just might provide them insight that helps them to be better parents. When it comes to health, however, it’s always best to get help when you are struggling. That’s the greatest lesson a parent can teach their child.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
