We – or someone we know – likely struggle with mental health. In The New York Times, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy wrote of his battle with loneliness: 

After my job ended, I felt ashamed to reach out to friends I had ignored. I found myself increasingly lonely and isolated, and it felt as if I was the only one who felt that way. Loneliness — like depression, with which it can be associated — can chip away at your self-esteem and erode your sense of who you are. That’s what happened to me. 

Mental health is a significant public health issue in Utah and across the nation – often requiring professional help to fully address it. However, beyond treatment from medical professionals, the scholarly evidence points to an institution that can help prevent and address youth mental health concerns: the family. 

The current status of youth mental health 

The American Medical Association published a report last week indicating that mental health-related emergency room visits have soared among young people. From 2011 to 2020, the proportion of youth E.R. visits for mental health-related issues essentially doubled from 7.7% to 13.1%. In addition, suicide-related visits increased almost five-fold, from 0.9% in 2011 to 4.2% in 2020. 

This report sounds valid alarms for youth mental health, citing that healthcare can’t meet current mental health needs. Researchers and associated news stories underline the recommendation to expand crisis and emergency mental health services. 

As alarming as these reports and associated recommendations are, the typical dialogue around the news and youth mental health generally lacks consideration of vital contributing and preventive factors in child and youth mental health issues. Not enough conversations take place among policy leaders that surround how institutions, particularly the family institution, can influence mental health crises, especially those crises that exist among our children and youth. 

Beyond E.R. visits 

Decades of social science and public health research show that multiple factors influence how children develop, navigate and respond to life stressors. Civic institutions like family, religion and education can positively impact the mental health of children and youths. 

The family institution carries a specific influence on child and youth mental health.  

The Institute for Family Studies recently published a report about how family structure and child mental health are related to digital technology use. The report found that children from intact families spent less time on digital media and had less incidence of reported negative mental and physical health issues. The report also indicated that children from intact families had more rules around digital media use than their non-intact family peers. In comparison, children who were high digital users from non-intact families had fewer rules around digital media use and were reportedly more sleep-deprived, depressed, lonely, and dissatisfied with life. 

These findings are consistent with research from the 1990s and earlier – predating the widespread use of social and digital media – that note a lack of parental influence increases media use. 

The role of parents 

A strong connection also exists between parents and their child’s mental and physical health. As one group of researchers put it, “Parent mental and physical health can impact child development through genetic, neurobiological, social, and environmental pathways.”  

This impact was most recently shown in a 2021 study in which poor parental mental health was connected to poor child mental health. Particularly, children ages 0-17 years with a parent who reported poor mental health were more likely to have poor general health, to have a mental, emotional or developmental disorder, to have adverse childhood experiences such as exposure to violence or family disruptions including divorce, and to live in poverty. 

Conclusion 

Various institutions can play a positive role in improving youth mental health. For example, my Sutherland colleague Bill Duncan recently noted that “religious practice has also been found to be protective of individual mental health” and cited survey evidence pointing out that an increasing portion of young people today express an openness to religious belief. 

The research also supports the position that the family can have significant positive influence on child and youth mental health. In addition to investing in medical treatments for mental health problems, it may be worthwhile for policymakers and mental health practitioners to closely examine more upstream influences on child and youth mental health – like the family. Because the family home is where children and youth spend their formative years and where their closest relationship interactions often occur, supporting families may be a critical part of the solution to today’s mental health struggles.