New Research:
Recently, I read an article from Wang and colleagues from 2018. To learn more about their research, check out this link: here. They wanted to see whether or not parental involvement mattered for students in middle school with regards to their mental health. They analyzed data from over 300,000 middle school students in the state of Georgia during the 2013-2014 school year. The researchers looked at numerous variables including parental involvement, mental health difficulties, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and several other variables in their study.
One finding that struck me is the amount of middle schoolers who experience mental health difficulty on a monthly basis. Middle schoolers responded to mental health questions about feeling anxious, depressed, having an eating disorder, engaging in out of control behavior, and attention difficulties. 58.3% of the sample reported having experienced as least one of these mental health difficulties during a 30 day time frame. Moreover, 15.3% of this sample reported having suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors in a 12 month time period. Talk about having your mind blown! I know that mental health is important for children given my background. However, I was surprised by these high percentages given the large sample size.
Almost 6 out of 10 middle schoolers has had some sort of struggle with his or her mental health in a month. Also, 3 out of 20 students experience suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors over the course of a year.
Y’all–that is a lot of middle schoolers! The findings from this study suggest that parental involvement matters. The researchers looked at how parental involvement at the student-level and school-level impacted middle schoolers. When middle schoolers perceived their parents as being involved, there was a negative correlation between parental involvement and having a mental health difficulty and suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors.
Key findings from the study for parents:
Parents, you make a difference in your child’s life! Your involvement in your child’s education doesn’t stop once they enter middle school. It is important to be present and engaged with your child. Put the electronics away and make time for meaningful conversations. It’s important to talk to your child about mental health, especially when we know that there is strong evidence to suggest that your child may struggle with it at one point or another.
Start talking to your middle schooler sooner rather than later about mental health and suicide. The researchers found that middle schooler’s reported more mental health difficulties in 8th grade compared to those in 6th and 7th grades. This is not something that a middle schooler grows out of. In addition to this, females are more susceptible to these difficulties compared to their male counterparts.
When talking to your child, talk about what it means to feel anxious, depressed, out of control, and inattentive. By helping your child understand these behaviors and what symptoms go along with them, you can help your child to label his or her emotions. In addition to this, talk to your child about what to do if he or she experiences these feelings. Some suggestions may be to talk to a parent or another trusted adult, journaling, taking a break from social media, or exercising.
As parents, our involvement in our children’s lives works as a protective factor that decreases the likelihood of them experiencing a mental health difficulty. In looking at the data, we know there is a high likelihood that our child will face difficulty at some point in time. However, perhaps by being involved, we can decrease the amount of time that they feel sad, hopeless, or out of control.
How can I help you talk to your child about mental health?
