Redefining Parental Dynamics: Exploring Mental Health, Happiness, and Positive Parenting Practices

Abstract

This study investigated how mental health, subjective happiness, and positive parenting interrelate among 489 Greek parents (76% mothers, 20% fathers) of children aged 7–13 years. We aimed to clarify whether these constructs converge strongly or remain relatively compartmentalized. Using a network analytic framework, we first estimated a graphical LASSO partial correlation network (38 nodes) and found 257 nonzero edges out of 703 possible (37% connectivity). The mean edge weight was 0.024, and centrality metrics were robust (Correlation Stability > 0.59 at r = 0.70). We then constructed a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) via Bayesian network modeling (1000 bootstrap samples, edge retention ≥ 85%) to infer directional paths. Mental health items (MHC–SF) correlated strongly within their domain (partial correlations up to r = 0.50), as did subjective happiness items (SHS) and positive parenting items (NPP). However, cross-domain links were notably weaker, with partial correlations between NPP items and mental health or happiness rarely exceeding r = 0.20. One bridging link emerged from MH_11 (“warm and trusting relationships”) to N_16 (“good relationship with extended family”), r = 0.23, highlighting only a modest cross-construct relationship. The DAG similarly showed that mental health variables exerted moderate directional influence on happiness but minimal influence on parenting nodes. Contrary to assumptions of broad reciprocity, these constructs operated in largely discrete clusters. Interventions should thus treat parental well-being and parenting skills as partially distinct targets, emphasizing more tailored, context-sensitive strategies for Greek families.