Research & Stats

💔 Key Concepts:

  • Parent connection as protection

    • → Large-scale research, including a CDC survey of 17,000 teens, shows that when parents stay connected—knowing where kids are and who they’re with—youth thrive across nearly every health measure.

  • Lower risk behaviors

    • → Teens with high parental monitoring are less likely to have sex early, engage in risky sexual behaviors, or misuse substances.

  • Mental health benefits

    • → Strong parent-child connection is linked to lower rates of persistent sadness, hopelessness, and suicide attempts. Communication quality is especially protective for teens struggling with depression or trauma.

  • The rising need

    • → Nearly 1 in 5 children ages 3–17 has a diagnosed mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, with anxiety and depression increasing over recent years. Divorce adds another layer of stress, making connection even more critical.

  • Presence over perfection

    • → Protection doesn’t come from perfect parenting, but from consistent presence, emotional availability, and open communication.

🧭 Bottom Line:

Your relationship with your child is one of the strongest protective factors against today’s mental health risks. Staying present, listening openly, and keeping communication safe shields them from harmful choices and helps them grow through the challenges of divorce.

Citations

  1. Dittus, P. J., Li, J., Verlenden, J. V., et al. (2023). Parental Monitoring and Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Supplements, 72(1), 37-44. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/su/su7201a5.htm
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health. https://www.cdc.gov/children-mental-health/data-research/index.html
  3. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2022). Child and Adolescent Mental Health - 2022 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK587174/
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Trends in Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders Among Children and Adolescents in the US, 2016–2021. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2024/24_0142.htm
  5. Zapf, H., et al. (2024). A systematic review of the association between parent‐child communication and adolescent mental health. JCPP Advances, 4(2). https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jcv2.12205