The Power of Parenting Interventions on Kids’ Psychological and Physical Health
In this post, I explore how psychological parenting interventions can strengthen parent-child bonds and enhance children's psychological and physical health. I highlight how these programs help caregivers support their children through stress and adversity, potentially leading to improved biological outcomes. I describe some of the research I have contributed to in this area. I’ll also discuss the broader implications for public health and the need for systemic support for families.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Strengthening Parent-Child Bonds Through Parenting Interventions
One of the most powerful protective factors available to children, particularly those exposed to stress, is their relationship with their caregiver(s). Building healthy parent-child relationships, however, is difficult, particularly when parents are stressed out. I am a child clinical psychologist who studies structured programs in which caregivers learn skills that enhance their relationship with their child. The programs are frequently referred to as parenting interventions, and there are many well-studied, effective programs out there (e.g., Parent-Child Interaction Therapy).
Typically, pediatricians direct parents to parenting interventions (or parents themselves seek them out) because a child is displaying psychological symptoms, like irritability or difficulties managing emotions, or concerning behaviors, like wetting the bed or avoiding going to school. Decades of research show that parenting interventions are a great way to improve children’s psychological health. These programs give parents skills to help their kids manage difficult emotions, cope with frightening memories, focus longer on challenging tasks, and be brave even when they feel nervous.
In addition to benefiting children’s mental health, scientists suspect that parenting interventions may benefit children's physical health, potentially affecting their cells, hormones, and stress regulation systems.
Early-life stress exposure may harm children’s health
Kids today are exposed to a lot of stress. Most adults report experiencing at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE)-- a type of potentially traumatic stressful event, like witnessing violence at home or in the community, and 16% of children in the US contend with poverty. Increasingly, media outlets and public health initiatives share messaging that these stressors may be “toxic” – that is, being exposed to severe or chronic stress may harm children’s health, including altering their brain development, weakening their immune systems, and increasing their risk of later heart disease.
Exploring the Biological Effects of Parenting Interventions on Children's Health and Development
One of my primary research focuses is figuring out if helping caregivers change their parenting impacts children’s physical health. I recently led a review of studies examining whether parenting interventions influenced a wide range of physical markers of health, like children’s cortisol or inflammation levels (all of which can be measured using saliva). While this science is in its early days, these studies seem to suggest parenting interventions may positively affect on kids’ physical health and development. For example, kids who participated in parenting interventions showed indicators of advanced brain development evident using brain scans (MRIs).
I led another study showing how parents can buffer their children from the consequences of stress. The findings suggested that parents have the capacity to protect their children from signs of accelerated biological aging – a marker that is associated with severe, chronic health problems (like psychiatric disorders and obesity).
These findings beg the question: why might a program such as a parenting intervention change biological markers in kids’ bodies? These programs are interpersonal – a therapist works with a parent or caregiver-child pair using behavioral and emotion-focused strategies. We coach parents through particularly difficult tantrums and teach them about the importance of labeling and noticing feelings. While some children might be taking medication, psychiatric medications are not a part of the therapy, so medications are not what is changing kids’ bodies.
A Potential Reason: Improved Stress Management
One reason for the positive effects of parenting interventions on kids’ biology is that parents become better at helping their children deal with big feelings. Decades of research show that moms’ stress physiology, evident in hormones measured using moms’ blood and saliva, alters their babies’ physiology. This is why skin-to-skin contact and Kangaroo care is encouraged in newborns! With these early practices, caregivers are helping their babies regulate their temperature, breathing, and heart-rate.
While parenting interventions are typically done with children older than newborns, research shows these programs target behaviors with a similar purpose. The programs help parents be more supportive, responsive, and foster more positive interactions with their children. Also, these programs help parents avoid unhelpful practices, like yelling and paying too much attention to misbehavior. With a strong parent-child bond, it can be easier and more fun to spend one-on-one time together. It can also be easier to help support a child through a difficult temper tantrum. These changes in parenting strategies add up to create a stronger foundation from which parents can help their children do important developmental tasks.
While the ways parents support their children change, caregivers continue helping their children deal with difficult emotions as children age and develop. For example, a caregiver’s calming presence might signal safety to a distressed teenager, or a parent practicing deep breaths while stressed out in traffic might model healthy coping for their 10 year-old. Caregivers who feel more confident and are more skilled at noticing and responding to their child’s cues are better able to help their children engage their own biological regulation systems, better managing feelings of stress. Just like developing any skill, children who practice coping may retune their physiology, leading to changes we can measure in their cells.
Changes in stress management and managing difficult emotions are just one way parenting interventions might lead to changes in kids’ bodies. There is still a lot to discover in this growing area of research.
While stress may get under kids’ skin, parents have the capacity to shield their children from the consequences of stress.
An Important Caveat
While this research is heartening, showing that parents can protect their children from serious stress, many families are exposed to a lot of stress that could be prevented. For many parents and psychologists alike, it’s frustrating that the United States healthcare system and government often make it such that caregivers alone take on the vast majority of the extensive financial burden of caring for children. Good health care, early childhood education and daycare, and access to resources (read: money) make it easier to parent. These resources are inequitably distributed in the United States, with families of color systematically predisposed to have less. Further, poverty itself is stressful and associated with worse health outcomes. This unfair distribution sets many families up to face more obstacles and then have fewer resources to cope with obstacles as they arise.
While this problem is not UNIQUE to the United States, this extreme financial responsibility of parents is not the case in all countries. Other governments offer healthcare, child care, and other resources to families regardless of income, with measurable positive effects on child health. I am a strong advocate of the science showing that parents, even those coping with extreme stress, have the capacity to protect their children from health problems associated with adversity. I also advocate for reducing the extreme stresses up front by giving parents the support they need to care for their children. Other countries have figured this out. The US can too.
Conclusion
The science on stress exposure is adding up: stress gets under kids’ skin and impacts their health. However, there are skills parents can use to protect their kids from the negative consequences of stress exposure. Let’s prevent stress and make it easier to access these programs.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Parenting interventions are structured programs designed to help caregivers develop skills to improve their relationship with their children. These programs use behavioral and emotion-focused strategies to foster healthier interactions and better manage children's psychological and behavioral issues.
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Yes, many parenting interventions offer remote or online options, making them accessible to families who may not be able to attend in-person sessions. These virtual programs can be just as effective as traditional face-to-face interventions.
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Early life stress refers to adverse experiences or conditions that a child or adolescent may encounter during their formative years. These experiences can include physical or emotional abuse, neglect, household dysfunction (such as substance abuse or mental illness in the family), or exposure to violence.