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Family Care and Mental Health Delivery to Improve Welfare of...
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Family Care and Mental Health Delivery to Improve Welfare of Children and Parents: Second Edition

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2026 | Viewed by 573

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Leonor Rivera-Rivera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Investigación en Salud Poblacional, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad No. 655 Col. Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Interests: intimate partner violence; dating violence; child sexual violence; sexual and reproductive health; suicidal behaviour; depression; adolescents; gender
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Improving the welfare of children and parents through family care and mental health services is essential in creating a healthy and supportive environment for families.

For this Special Issue, we invite the submission of original articles and reviews that address the following aspects related to child welfare:

  • Accessible Mental Health Services

Ensuring that mental health services are readily available and accessible to both children and parents. This includes affordable therapy, counseling, and psychiatric services.

  • Early Intervention

Implementing early intervention programs to identify and address mental health issues in children and parents at an early stage. This can prevent problems from worsening over time.

  • Parental Support

Offering parenting programs that provide support and education to parents. These programs can help parents to develop effective parenting skills, manage stress, and create a nurturing environment for their children.

  • Family-Centered Care

Strengthening psychological care programs provided by medical services based on a family-centered approach to improve the mental health of children and parents.

  • Integrated Care

Developing integrated healthcare systems where mental health services are seamlessly integrated into primary care. This can improve the early detection and treatment of mental health issues in both parents and children.

  • Community-Based Services

Establishing community-based mental health programs and support networks that families can easily access. These programs can include peer support groups, community centers, and crisis hotlines.

  • Trauma-Informed Care

Training healthcare providers, educators, and social workers in trauma-informed care to better understand and address the effects of trauma in children and parents.

  • Crisis Intervention

Establishing training programs for interventions after psychological crises and traumatic events (in children and parents) for staff in psychology, medicine, social work, and health services.

  • Supportive Policies

Advocating for policies that support family-friendly workplaces, affordable childcare, and parental leave. Reducing stressors on parents can positively impact family mental health.

  • Telehealth and Digital Resources

Leveraging telehealth and digital platforms to provide mental health resources and support, especially for families in remote or underserved areas.

Dr. Leonor Rivera-Rivera
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • family care
  • integrated care
  • parental support
  • mental health
  • telehealth and digital support
  • crisis intervention
  • trauma-informed care

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

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 264 KB  
Article
Subgroup Differences in Parenting Stress and Life Satisfaction Among Parents of Children with Disabilities Receiving Adapted Physical Activity Services
by Jinwoo Park and Seunghyun Jang
Healthcare 2026, 14(11), 1434; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14111434 - 22 May 2026
Viewed by 170
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Parenting stress and life satisfaction are important indicators of family well-being and parent mental health in families of children with disabilities. However, limited empirical attention has been given to how these outcomes differ among parents whose children receive adapted physical activity (APA) [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Parenting stress and life satisfaction are important indicators of family well-being and parent mental health in families of children with disabilities. However, limited empirical attention has been given to how these outcomes differ among parents whose children receive adapted physical activity (APA) services within South Korea’s Developmental Rehabilitation Service system. This cross-sectional study examined subgroup differences in parenting stress and life satisfaction according to sociodemographic, disability-related, and service-utilization characteristics among parents of children receiving APA services. Methods: Data were collected from 295 parents of school-aged children with disabilities enrolled in APA services at child development centers. Welch-type tests, Welch’s ANOVA or one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analyses, Benjamini–Hochberg FDR adjustment, and supplementary analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to examine group differences and the stability of selected associations after adjustment for prespecified covariates. Confirmatory factor analysis and gender-based measurement invariance testing were also conducted for the adapted parenting stress scale. Results: Parenting stress subdomains were positively correlated with one another (r = 0.19–0.53) and negatively correlated with life satisfaction (r = −0.28 to −0.40). Female parents reported higher social and psychological stress than male parents. Household income showed the largest association with economic stress, and significant differences were also observed according to parental age, education level, disability severity, and selected service-utilization characteristics. Some associations remained after ANCOVA adjustment, whereas others were attenuated or emerged only after adjustment. Conclusions: The findings indicate subgroup differences in parenting stress and life satisfaction among parents of children receiving APA services. Because the study used a cross-sectional, self-reported design with convenience sampling and an adapted instrument, the results should be interpreted as preliminary associative evidence rather than evidence of causal or service-specific effects. Future longitudinal, comparative, and service-level research is needed to clarify how APA service contexts relate to caregiver well-being over time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Care and Mental Health Delivery to Improve Welfare of Children and Parents: Second Edition)
23 pages, 426 KB  
Article
Using the Socio-Ecological Model to Explore Parents’ Resilience and Perceptions of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Qualitative Study in the Southeastern United States
by Maribel G. Dominguez, Christine Markham, Andrew E. Springer and Louis D. Brown
Healthcare 2026, 14(10), 1414; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14101414 - 21 May 2026
Viewed by 151
Abstract
Background: The negative impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on child development is documented. The parent–child relationship protects against ACEs and improves healthy child development, playing a crucial role in preventing and mitigating ACEs by strengthening parental resilience. However, there is a gap [...] Read more.
Background: The negative impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on child development is documented. The parent–child relationship protects against ACEs and improves healthy child development, playing a crucial role in preventing and mitigating ACEs by strengthening parental resilience. However, there is a gap in the literature on our understanding of parental resilience’s impact on the parent–child relationship within the social–ecological model (SEM) (i.e., intra- and interpersonal, community, and societal levels). Objective: This study explores parents’ perspectives on parental resilience as a protective factor for preventing and mitigating ACEs at every level of the SEM. Method: This study uses a thematic analysis approach for qualitative research. In-depth individual interviews (n = 21) were conducted with members of a parent support group (PSG) (85% female) based in a community-based organization serving families. Demographic information and ACE scores were collected for each participant to describe the sample. Results: Key findings highlighted parents’ perspectives on improved resilience through self-regulation and social support following participation in PSGs, conceptualized as an inter-level construct within the SEM mechanism due to its influence on parents’ well-being, traversing SEM levels. Under Theme 1: The Many Faces of Parental Resilience, Theme 3: The Power of Close Relationships, Theme 4: Community Resources as a Buffer, and Theme 7: Change Through a Policy Lens: “Anything that protects them,” parents expressed a strong desire for ACE prevention and mitigation strategies and called for systemic policy change to combat ACEs. Conclusions: Parental resilience perceptions are valuable and hold promise to inform the future institutionalization of a multi-level parent resilience-focused framework, which will aid in ACE prevention and mitigation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Care and Mental Health Delivery to Improve Welfare of Children and Parents: Second Edition)
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