Nearly half of U.S. parents surveyed said they face “overwhelming” levels of stress on a daily basis, and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an advisory issued Wednesday that parental stress is an urgent public health issue.
Murthy said he issued the advisory to draw attention to a health issue of national importance “to highlight the stressors that affect parents' and caregivers' mental health and well-being, the important link between parental mental health and their children's long-term well-being, and the urgent need for increased support for parents, caregivers and families.”
As outlined in the new report, the 2023 data shows that one-third of parents said they faced high levels of stress in the past month, compared to 20% of other adults.
According to the new recommendations, nearly half (48%) of parents surveyed last year said they had “completely uncontrollable stress most days,” compared with 26% of other adults who said they experienced the same level of stress every day.
According to the new recommendations, the main stressors affecting mothers and fathers include:
Financial burdens, economic insecurity, poverty, time demands, children's health, children's safety, parental isolation and loneliness, technology and social media, cultural pressures and children's futures.
Murthy believes there is a dangerous trickle-down effect as parental stress can impact children's mental health.
In 2021, Mursi released recommendations noting a “alarming” increase in the number of young people in the U.S. facing mental health issues.
“We know that the well-being of parents and caregivers is directly linked to the well-being of their children,” Murthy wrote. “The stress that parents and caregivers are currently experiencing is transmitted directly and indirectly to their children, impacting families and communities across America.”
He cited his own experience.
“As a parent, I also feel the burden of having to make everyday decisions, big and small, that don't come with an instruction manual,” Murthy says.
Raising children is never easy, but Murthy believes changes in society are making it even more difficult.
“Technological and economic forces have transformed the world at such a rapid pace that it becomes increasingly difficult for parents to prepare their children for a future that is difficult to understand and predict,” Mursi said in the report.
The internet and social media in particular have created an intense “culture of comparison” that leaves parents scrambling to keep up, he said.
Murthy believes this creates “unrealistic expectations” about “milestones, parenting strategies, achievements and status symbols that children and parents must pursue.”
“Chasing these unreasonable expectations leaves many families exhausted, burned out and feeling constantly left behind,” he said.
What is needed, he said, is an adjustment in societal attitudes about the importance and challenges of child-rearing.
“The work of raising children is work, every bit as valuable as paid work, and outsized in terms of the impact it has on the future of our society,” the Surgeon General said.
Communities must also do more to ease the burden on parents.
This could include “programs that ensure parents and caregivers have time off to be with their sick children, have access to affordable child care, have access to reliable mental health care, and benefit from spaces and initiatives that support social connections and communities,” Murthy explained.
Mursy added that too many parents feel embarrassed because they feel they cannot meet economic and cultural expectations when it comes to their children's academic performance, exacerbating stress levels. “It's time to talk more openly about the challenges parents face,” he said.
“We hope that the Surgeon General's recommendations will help facilitate and support the changes needed to ensure all parents and caregivers can thrive,” Murthy said.
More information: Find out more about coping with parental stress at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Source: U.S. Surgeon General names parental stress as urgent public health issue (August 28, 2024) Retrieved August 28, 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-surgeon-general-parental-stress-urgent.html
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