Promoting the mental health of children with anxious parents: A qualitative investigation of parents’ views and needs

Abstract

Objective

Parental anxiety is highly prevalent and is a known risk factor for mental health difficulties in children. Providing targeted support to anxious parents can represent an effective way to reduce the intergenerational transmission of mental ill-health. This study aimed to qualitatively explore what parents who have accessed an NHS talking therapy service for anxiety need from a service aimed at supporting them in minimising the potential negative impacts of parental anxiety on their preschool-aged children.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 UK-based parents and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Four themes were generated to summarise participants’ views: "There's just not enough support" highlighted the current lack, in England, of a service that supports anxious parents in preventing their children’s mental ill-health; “It’s not easy to find your way to help” explored existing and potential barriers to service access; “It’s a balance” collected the characteristics of an accessible and usable service to support parents in supporting their children; and “Advertise it well” focused on strategies to facilitate promotion and access to the service. The overarching theme, “We just need more support for parents. Full stop.”, captured the urgent need for more support for anxious parents and for action to prevent child mental ill-health.

Conclusions

Findings provide insights on characteristics of an adequate prevention service to promote the mental health of children with anxious parents, and can help direct future research, clinical, and policy efforts towards the development of accessible and acceptable prevention programmes.