By: Joni Boyd
The mental health and wellbeing of children and teenagers is something most parents are talking about.
Carol Markie-Dadds is the International Country Director for Triple P (Positive Parenting Program), a globally recognized authority on effective parenting strategies.
She spoke in an interview about some of the simple things that parents can do, to help care for their child’s mental health.
“We’re seeing around one in ten children aged between four and eleven experiencing some sort of mental health disorder.”
Triple P emphasises the need for parents and carers to support their children’s wellbeing along with their own.
“We’re seeing around 1 in 10 children aged between 4 – 11 years experiencing some sort of mental health disorder,” Carol said. “We see it worsening in young people and half of adult mental health issues seem to emerge before the age of 14.”
But what can we do about it?
Keep an eye out from a young age
Early childhood years are crucial for predicting future mental health outcomes, with 1 in 10 children facing mental health issues. The foundation for mental health is laid during the formative primary school years.
“We do know that those primary school years and that early development stage is really important for predicting how well we’re going to go with our mental health and wellbeing later on in life,” Carol said.
“As [the] parent, you’re the first agent of change, I guess, for your child and young people to notice when things aren’t going as per usual.”
Learn how to manage your own mental health
The role parents and carers play in safeguarding not only their children’s mental health but also their own can’t be understated, Carol says.
Parents’ stress levels, influenced by external factors like economic strain, can inadvertently affect their children’s emotional health.
“If we’re not able to cope with what’s going on around us, we might have a short fuse, so we might be a bit ill tempered, we might have a lack of patience with our children, we might be quick to raise our voice, or on the other hand, we might withdraw and not really be there for them when they need us.
“We need parents to be thinking about how do they cope with life events? Do they feel confident? Do they have the positive self talk that they need to help them take on life’s challenges?”
Parents need to recognize and address their mental health and model positive coping mechanisms to help children build resilience.
The foundation for mental health is laid during the formative primary school years.
Be careful with social media
It comes as no surprise that social media significantly impacts children’s – and parents’ – perceptions of reality, body image, and self-worth, necessitating parental guidance and intervention, Carol explains.
“Most parents, around 80%, are concerned about the impacts of social media on their children’s mental health,” she said. “They’re exposed to cyberbullying, inappropriate imaging about our body and so on.
“So we know that children on social media also experiencing inappropriate content, which again, impacts their mental health and wellbeing.
“And that can really make it difficult for children to learn the behaviours that we want them to learn and how to cope and be resilient and confident in our world.”
You can’t protect them: and that’s ok
Parenting can feel overwhelming and particularly when it comes to our child’s mental wellbeing. Carol reminds us that at the end of the day, we can’t protect our kids from everything – and that’s ok.
Teaching them healthy coping strategies is a much better goal.
“While parents do try to protect their children from the stresses of life that they’re going through… they’re under unprecedented levels of stress at the moment, it’s impossible to protect children from that,” Carol said.
Learn more about Triple P at triplep-parenting.net.au
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
About the Author: Joni Boyd is a writer, based in the Hawkesbury Region of NSW. She is passionate about the power of stories shared, to transform lives.