“The findings are clear. The most important factor in the mental health of adolescent children is the quality of the relationship with their caregivers,” says Jonathan Rothwell, who was part of the team that conducted the research. “This, in turn, is strongly related to parenting practices—with the best results coming from warm, responsive, and rule-bound, disciplined parenting.” Rothwell further explains that some parental characteristics matter, with political ideology being “one of the strongest predictors” of outcomes for adolescents. “Conservative and very conservative parents are the most likely to adopt the parenting practices associated with adolescent mental health. They are the most likely to effectively discipline their children, while also displaying affection and responding to their needs,” Rothwell says. By contrast, “Liberal parents score the lowest, even worse than very liberal parents, largely because they are the least likely to successfully discipline their children,” he wrote. Conservative parents, the research shows, have “higher quality relationships with their children, characterized by fewer arguments, more warmth, and a stronger bond.” The latest findings in the research brief from the Institute for Family Studies and Gallup also determined there was no variation based on socioeconomic status, which “may be shocking to many highly educated Americans who were taught to believe that socioeconomic status dictates everything good in life.” Neither income, nor parents being more highly educated produced better results. There was also no meaningful variance in parent-child relationship quality based on race and ethnicity. The report rests on “decades of research,” which shows that an “authoritative” parenting style — children raised by responsive, but limit-setting parents — produces better outcomes than “authoritarian” and permissive parenting. Children raised in authoritative homes are “more likely to exhibit self-control, social competence, success in school, compliance with rules and reasonable social norms, and even exhibit more confidence and creativity.” Conversely, children raised in authoritarian homes are more likely to exhibit depression, anxiety, and behavioral problems. The data were gleaned through a survey of 6,643 parents and 1,580 adolescents, and included analysis of information including mental health, visits to doctors, parenting practices, family relationships, activities, personality traits, attitudes toward marriage, and other topics, including excessive social media use.Adolescents who grow up in a household where parents have either a “very conservative” or “conservative” parenting style have better mental health outcomes, according to a new study.
