The Protective Effect of Parental Closeness on Young Adult Mental Health within Families Experiencing Financial Stress

Background/Purpose

The last two decades have witnessed unprecedented global crises resulting in job instability, inflation, and supply chain disruptions. For youth living in families who are already experiencing complex stressors, additional financial stress increases the likelihood of experiencing mental health difficulties.

For young adults, experiencing financial stress is associated with lower levels of mental well-being while parental closeness is associated with higher levels of mental well-being. Yet little is known about the relationship between child-parent closeness and young adult mental well-being within families experiencing economic pressure.

This study uses a Family Stress Model framework to better understand the protective effects of child-parent closeness by examining associations between early household financial stress and young adult mental health outcomes.

Methods

We used data from the longitudinal Future Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), wave seven (n=2,599). First, we calculated the prevalence of close parental relationships, financial stress, and mental health conditions. Next, we used generalized linear models (GLMs) controlling for young adult race and gender to examine associations between parental closeness, financial stress, and mental health in three models:

1. The relationship between parental closeness and mental health,
2. The relationship between financial stress and mental health,
3. The relationship between financial stress, parental closeness, and mental health.

Findings

Young adults in the sample varied by gender (52% female, 47% male, 1% non-binary/other) and race (49% non-Hispanic Black/African-American, 24% Hispanic/Latino, 19% non-Hispanic white, 5% non-Hispanic multi-racial, 3% non-Hispanic other race). Most (85%) reported a close relationship with one or both parents, including 81% reporting a close relationship with their mother and 58% reporting a close relationship with their father. Nearly half (47%) of respondents grew up in a childhood household with financial stress and nearly one-third (31%) have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.

In GLMs controlling for race and gender, young adults who grew up in a home with financial stress were more likely to have a mental health condition (Coeff= 0.023, CI= -0.012-0.059). Young adults who reported a close relationship with either parent were less likely to have a mental health condition (Coeff= 0.043, CI= -0.007- 0.093). Young adults who grew up in a home with financial stress who also reported a close relationship with either parent were less likely to have a mental health condition (Coeff= 0.038, CI= -0.002- 0.074).

Conclusions/Implications

Study results indicate that parental closeness may be a protective factor against developing mental health conditions, even among young adults who experienced household financial stress during childhood. This suggests that interventions that facilitate parent-child bonding may promote mental health across the lifespan and may be particularly beneficial in families that are experiencing financial stress.

Study results also indicate that measuring family strengths (e.g., child-parent closeness) and difficulties (e.g., financial stress) may result in a more comprehensive understanding of how family dynamics during childhood influence mental health later in young adulthood.