Teens with very conservative parents 'are 16 to 17 percentage points more likely to be in good or excellent mental health compared to their peers with very liberal parents,' study says
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Parenting styles and political beliefs can play a major role influencing teenagers' mental health, new research from Gallup says.
A June 2023 study surveying 6,643 parents and 1,580 adolescents found that conservative and very conservative parents were the "most likely to adopt the parenting practices associated with adolescent mental health," the research reported in the Institute for Family Studies found.
"Adolescents with very conservative parents are 16 to 17 percentage points more likely to be in good or excellent mental health compared to their peers with very liberal parents," the report said. "Only 55% of adolescents of liberal parents reported good or excellent mental health compared to 77% of those with conservative or very conservative parents."
Conservative parents were more likely to adopt an "authoritative parenting style, characterized by both warmth and a high level of discipline," Gallup economist and study author Jonathan Rothwell explained to Fox News Digital.
"Parents who set boundaries, establish routines, convey warmth and affection, and enforce rules effectively report a less contentious relationship with their adolescent child than parents who do not do these things, and this relationship is recognized by that child to be stronger and more loving. Each of the two factors related to parenting practices has a similar effect on the relationship as an index of adverse experiences, related to parental drug abuse, death, or abandonment," he described in the report.
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Liberal parents scored the lowest for positive parenting practices in the Gallup survey. (iStock)
Liberal parents, however, scored lowest in the survey, primarily because they were least likely to report successfully disciplining their child.
Teens' mental health outcomes were 8 percentage points lower when parents reported having difficulty disciplining their child.
"By contrast, conservative parents enjoy higher quality relationships with their children, characterized by fewer arguments, more warmth, and a stronger bond, according to both parent and child reporting," the report said.
While 80% of very conservative parents said their child did not get their way in an argument, only 53% of liberal parents could say the same. The most conservative parents were also more likely to report showing affection to their children every day.
"Generally speaking, political conservatism is associated with more responsive and discipline-oriented parenting, or what the child development literature would characterize as an ‘authoritative’ style, in contrast to permissive or authoritarian styles. This relationship between conservativism and parenting remains significant even after controlling for an extensive list of parental demographic and socio-economic measures," Rothwell analyzed.
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Adolescents of parents who set boundaries and convey affection reported stronger, more loving relationships with their parents, the study said. (iStock)
Parents' attitudes toward marriage and their spouses also played key roles in children's mental health.
Parents who reported having a strong relationship with their spouse were more likely to adopt best parenting practices. Adults who experienced a positive childhood were also more likely to practice good parenting, Rothwell said, but this finding could be off-set when these adults reported having a strong marriage.
Adults who held positive beliefs about the institution of marriage, their own marriage and their child's future marriage prospects were "significantly more likely to employ responsive, disciplined parenting practices compared to parents who do not hold these views," the report said.
The study's outcomes were seen regardless of race, ethnicity, household income, education or the sex of the parent, Gallup said.
While not every factor contributing to a child's mental health is within parents' control, they play a bigger role than many leading pediatric and mental health organizations would lead you to believe, Rothwell claims.
Leading pediatric organizations have described the mental health of young Americans as in "crisis." Some 57% of female teens in the U.S. struggled with feeling "persistently sad" in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
Yet the CDC's website recommendations on youth mental health, "almost completely ignore the most important known determinant of youth mental health: parent-child relationships," Rothwell wrote in his report.
Parents' diminished role in helping address this crisis is "very disappointing" and isn't "science-based," he told Fox News Digital. The researcher called for more pediatric and health agencies to empower parents to recognize the impact they can have on their child's mental health.
"It's kind of easier to tell parents that if your teen is struggling, it's not your fault, it's not anything that you're doing, it's probably just something in their genes," he remarked. However, he doesn't find this argument compelling as "teenage biology hasn't changed but depressive symptoms have."
Instead, "family dynamics," counseling and preventative measures should be emphasized more in the public discussion on the mental health crisis adolescents are facing, Rothwell argued.
Fox News' Brittany Kasko contributed to this report.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
