The Influence of Children’s Discrimination Experiences on Parents’ Mental and Self-Rated Health: Results from the National Health Interview Survey

Abstract

Background: This study assessed the associations between children’s experiences of discrimination based on race/ethnicity and sexual orientation/gender identity and their parents’ anxiety, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health. Methods: Our sample included 3910 parents with at least one child between 12 and 17 years of age. Data were pooled from the 2021 and 2022 waves of the National Health Interview Survey. Path analysis with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and bootstrapping were used to examine the indirect pathways from child-experienced discrimination to parental self-rated health through parental anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results: Child-experienced discrimination based on race/ethnicity was associated with worse parental self-rated health via pathways through higher parental anxiety (p = 0.003) and depressive symptoms (p < 0.001). Child-experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation/gender identity was also associated with worse parental self-rated health via pathways through higher parental anxiety (p = 0.002) and depressive symptoms (p = 0.001). Conclusions: The results show a strong association between children’s experiences of discrimination and parental self-rated health through pathways of poor parental mental health. Findings demonstrate the need to reduce discrimination directed at children and to facilitate mental health support for parents of children experiencing discrimination to improve family well-being.