Journal Article

Association between parents’ perceived social support and children’s psychological adjustment: a cross-sectional study

Hosokawa, Rikuya, Katsura, Toshiki

2024

Overview

Background This study examined the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and their children’s psychological adjustment. Methods This cross-sectional survey study was conducted in 52 kindergartens and 78 preschools in Nagoya, Aichi, a major metropolitan area in Japan. Parents of eighth-grade children aged 13–14 years ( N  = 1,195) completed a questionnaire. A total of 602 valid responses were received. To accurately assess the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and behavioral characteristics, respondents diagnosed with a developmental disability or who failed to answer the required questionnaire items were excluded from the analysis. Consequently, 536 (89.0%) of the 602 participants met the eligibility criteria. Results The results indicated that the stronger the social support for parents, the lower the scores for externalizing and internalizing problems, and the higher the scores for prosociality. Conversely, insufficient social support may pose a risk to parental mental health and lead to suboptimal parenting practices. Issues in parental mental health adversely affect parenting, leading to fewer positive interactions with young children, increased rates of negative interactions and hostility, diminished communication, and delayed responses to children’s behaviors. Conclusions These results underscore the significant influence of parents’ perceptions of social support on their parenting beliefs and behaviors, which may, in turn, affect the development of their children’s mental health. Therefore, parents’ perceptions of social support are likely positively associated with children’s mental health.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adaptation, Psychological / Adjustment / Adolescence / Adolescent / Adolescent development / Anxiety / Behavior / Child / Child development / Child mental health / Child psychological adjustment / Child, Preschool / Children & youth / Cross-Sectional Studies / Emotional Adjustment / Families & family life / Female / Health aspects / Humans / Influence / Internal Medicine / Japan / Loneliness / Male / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental depression / Mental health / Mothers / Parent-Child Relations / Parenting / Parenting - psychology / Parents & parenting / Parents - psychology / Parents’ perceived social support / Parent–child interactions / Pediatric research / Pediatrics / Psychological aspects / Single parents / Social aspects / Social change / Social isolation / Social networks / Social Support / Stress / Surveys / Surveys and Questionnaires / Teenagers / Well being