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Children
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Parental Mental Health and Child Development
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Parental Mental Health and Child Development

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 January 2026 | Viewed by 1710

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dimitrios Papadopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Early Years Learning and Care, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Interests: child development and mental health; developmental psychology and psycho-pathology; gifted and high-ability children; autism spectrum disorder; parenting; developmental disabilities
Prof. Dr. Katerina Maniadaki

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Social Work, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Interests: developmental psychopathology; ADHD; learning difficulties; anxiety disorders; risk and resilience factors; early intervention

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mental health problems in both mothers and fathers, including postpartum depression, parental stress, and anxiety arising from diverse biopsychosocial, and environmental causes, can affect their parenting capacity and the way a child thinks, feels or behaves. Consequently, children may be vulnerable to developing mental health problems themselves and this may elevate the risk for psychological and behavioral challenges, along with academic underachievement and other adverse outcomes. Optimal parental mental health and positive parenting can influence a child's development and well-being from the prenatal period through childhood and adolescence, hence strengthening parent–child attachment and bonding. This, in turn, promotes parenting practices that cultivate secure relationships and emotional regulation skills in the child.

This Special Issue entitled “Parental Mental Health and Child Development” aims to gather high-quality research examining the impact of parental mental health and familial factors on child development, from infancy to adolescence, as well as how children's activities and behaviors may impose emotional strain and pressure on parents, which in turn impacts the care provided to the child. This Special Issue addresses several aspects of child development, encompassing cognitive growth, socioemotional and personality development, academic performance, and social relationships. We encourage authors to incorporate several methodological approaches, including cross-sectional designs, longitudinal studies, qualitative and mixed-methods research. Furthermore, the inclusion of studies that connect theory and practice, such as interventions involving parents and children, is recommended. Additionally, literature reviews, encompassing scoping reviews and systematic reviews that examine the interplay between parental mental health and its effects on child developmental outcomes, are encouraged. We expect this Special Issue to yield significant theoretical advances and meaningful research implications for practice.

Dr. Dimitrios Papadopoulos
Prof. Dr. Katerina Maniadaki
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • child development
  • developmental psychology and psychopathology
  • parenting
  • mental health
  • family
  • positive development
  • cognition
  • emotion
  • behavior
  • wellbeing

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 477 KiB  
Article
COVID-19 Stress and Family Well-Being: The Role of Sleep in Mental Health Outcomes for Parents and Children
by Alzena Ilie, Andy J. Kim, Danika DesRoches, Elizabeth Keys, Simon B. Sherry, Sherry H. Stewart, S. Hélène Deacon and Penny V. Corkum
Children 2025, 12(8), 962; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12080962 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 265
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic introduced various stressors for families, including changes to daily routines, work, and schooling. Studies have linked these stressors to increased mental health challenges for parents and children. Sleep difficulties were also common during the pandemic, with some children and [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic introduced various stressors for families, including changes to daily routines, work, and schooling. Studies have linked these stressors to increased mental health challenges for parents and children. Sleep difficulties were also common during the pandemic, with some children and parents experiencing poorer sleep quality and shorter sleep duration. However, it remains unclear whether the effects of COVID-19 stress on mental health challenges are explained, at least in part, by effects of COVID-19 stress on child and/or parent sleep challenges. This study examined the impacts of COVID-19 stress on sleep and, in turn, mental health difficulties in school-aged children and their parents in Canada and the United States. Methods: Parents (N = 961) completed validated measures of COVID-19 stress, and of their own and their child’s sleep and mental health. Path analyses tested direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 stress on mental health outcomes with sleep problems as the potential mediator. Results: Child sleep problems partially mediated COVID-19 stress effects on both parent (β = 0.33) and child (β = 0.20) mental health difficulties, while parent sleep problems contributed significantly but to a lesser degree (parent mental health: β = 0.07; child mental health: β = 0.03). There also remained significant direct effects of COVID-19 stress on both child and parent mental health difficulties that were not mediated through sleep difficulties. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the interconnected nature of sleep and mental health, demonstrating that stress-related disruptions in sleep (particularly children’s sleep) can exacerbate mental health difficulties for both parents and children during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Parental Mental Health and Child Development)
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25 pages, 658 KiB  
Article
Parenting Under Pressure: The Transformative Impact of PCIT on Caregiver Depression and Anxiety and Child Outcomes
by Abigail Peskin, Alexis Landa, Juliana Acosta, William Andrew Rothenberg, Rachel Levi, Eileen Davis, Dainelys Garcia, Jason F. Jent and Elana Mansoor
Children 2025, 12(7), 922; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12070922 - 11 Jul 2025
Viewed by 331
Abstract
Background Objectives: Parental anxiety and depression demonstrate bidirectional connections with child developmental outcomes (e.g., disruptive behavior). Directly targeting child development through behavioral parent training (BPT) has potential for reversing this cycle. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a BPT with robust research evidence for decreasing [...] Read more.
Background Objectives: Parental anxiety and depression demonstrate bidirectional connections with child developmental outcomes (e.g., disruptive behavior). Directly targeting child development through behavioral parent training (BPT) has potential for reversing this cycle. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a BPT with robust research evidence for decreasing child disruptive behaviors, has demonstrated promise in also decreasing caregiver anxiety and depression. However, the mechanisms that explain this relationship are less understood. Methods: The current study examined whether caregivers (N = 840) completing time-limited PCIT experienced significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms and improvements in child disruptive behaviors at each time point. Generalized estimate equation analyses assessed whether caregiver anxiety and depression moderated changes in child disruptive behavior. Mediation analyses explored the extent that changes in caregiver–child interactions over time explained changes in family outcomes. Results: Child disruptive behavior and caregiver depression and anxiety symptoms improved significantly at each time point of PCIT. Change in child behavioral outcomes was significantly moderated by caregiver race. Caregivers with higher anxiety reported fewer improvements in child disruptive behavior compared to other caregivers. Changes in caregiver anxiety and depression over the course of treatment were partially mediated by improvement in caregiver–child interaction skills. Changes in child disruptive behavior were not mediated by improvement in caregiver–child interaction skills. Conclusions: Results demonstrate that time-limited PCIT could significantly improve caregiver anxiety and depression, and some PCIT-taught parenting skills are direct drivers of this process. Further research is needed to understand other mechanisms underlying the relationship between PCIT and improved family outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Parental Mental Health and Child Development)
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13 pages, 324 KiB  
Article
Mediating Role of Parental Support in the Relationship Between Immigrant Mothers’ Mental Health and Adolescents’ Self-Esteem
by Yeseul Jeong and Sangyoun Jang
Children 2025, 12(6), 677; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12060677 - 24 May 2025
Viewed by 529
Abstract
Background/Objectives: This study aimed to identify the mediating effect of parental support on the relationship between immigrant mothers’ mental health and adolescents’ self-esteem. Methods: This study utilized data from 1077 Korean multicultural adolescents and their immigrant mothers from the 9th Multicultural Adolescents Panel [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: This study aimed to identify the mediating effect of parental support on the relationship between immigrant mothers’ mental health and adolescents’ self-esteem. Methods: This study utilized data from 1077 Korean multicultural adolescents and their immigrant mothers from the 9th Multicultural Adolescents Panel data obtained in 2019. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, Baron and Kenny’s regression analysis, and bootstrapping using the process macro. Results: Immigrant mothers’ mental health was significantly and positively associated with their adolescents’ self-esteem (r = 0.14, p < 0.001), and parental support was also significantly and positively associated with adolescents’ self-esteem (r = 0.50, p < 0.001). Parental support had a mediating effect on immigrant mothers’ mental health and adolescents’ self-esteem. Conclusions: The self-esteem of adolescents from multicultural families was found to be influenced by the mental health and support of their immigrant mothers. These findings highlight the mediating role of parental support in the relationship between immigrant mothers’ mental health and adolescents’ self-esteem, contributing to a deeper theoretical understanding of family dynamics in multicultural contexts. Therefore, these factors should be considered when developing parent education programs for immigrant mothers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Parental Mental Health and Child Development)
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