Survey: Most Parents Say Children Have Good Mental Health, But It's A Growing Concern

The survey by Interact for Health asked parents to rate their own children’s mental health.

(Cincinnati, Oh.) - Children’s mental health is a growing concern in the tri-state.

Interact for Health says its 2017 Child Well-Being Survey shows more than 28,000 youth in Greater Cincinnati have poor or fair mental and emotional health.

The survey asked parents to rate their children’s mental health, with 80 percent saying either excellent or very good. Fifteen percent said good. Five percent of parents said their kids mental and emotional health was fair or poor.

“Once again, this survey shows the close connection between a person’s physical and mental health,” said O’dell Moreno Owens, M.D., M.P.H., President and CEO of Interact for Health. “By understanding the social and emotional health needs of our youth, we can begin to identify which children may need additional support.”

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital says between 2015 and 2018, inpatient hospitalizations for pediatric mental health increased eight percent.

The survey also shows a correlation between the self-reported mental health of the parent or caregiver and the child. Only two percent of parents who rated their own mental health as excellent or very good indicated that their child’s mental health was fair or poor; while 19 percent of parents who rated their own mental health as fair or poor rated their child’s mental health as fair or poor.

The Child Well-Being Survey included more than 2,700 adults surveyed in 22 counties in southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. For more information about the Child Well-Being Survey, please visit https://www.interactforhealth.org/child-well-being-survey.