Parent Well-being

Respondents were asked a number of questions about stress in parenting, their own depression, and their health. Because respondents were primarily mothers (77%) and fathers (18%) we have included only their results. Mothers and fathers did not differ significantly in their responses to parenting stress and mental health, so their responses are combined here.

 

Parent mental health

 

Parent mental health was calculated using a series of 5 items derived from the Medical Outcomes Study Mental Health Inventory short form (MHI-5). Questions asked included how frequently parents have:

  1. been a very nervous person
  2. felt calm or peaceful
  3. felt downhearted and blue
  4. been a happy person, and
  5. felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you up

 

These items were scaled and the results were calculated using a standardized cut-off for symptoms suggesting poor mental health status.

 

About 17% of Iowa ’s children ages 5 and under lived with a parent whose symptoms suggested poor mental health status.

 

Parenting stress

 

Parenting stress was defined using a series of 4 questions asking how much time in the past month have you felt:

  1. your child is much harder to care for than most
  2. your child does things that really bother you a lot
  3. you are giving up more of your life to meet your child’s needs than you ever expected
  4. angry with your child

 

These items were scaled and the results were calculated using a standardized cut-off for symptoms suggesting levels of parenting stress. Parents of most children (71%) reported moderate stress related to parenting. About 7% of children were living in households with a highly stressed parent. This has not changed from the 2000 survey, and is similar to nationwide data indicating that 8% of children have highly stressed parents.[9] Parenting stress differed by income status. In the under 133% FPL group, 12% of children lived with a highly stressed parent, compared with 8% in the 134-200% FPL group and 5% in the 201+ % FPL group.

As Figure 12 shows, there were also variations in parenting stress by child age group.

 

Figure 12. Percent of Iowa children with ‘highly stressed’ parents,
by age group

 

The data from this study contains evidence of a link between reported child behavior problems and reported parenting stress. Figure 13 shows the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior issues. Parents who reported high levels of stress in parenting were far more likely to have reported significant problems with child behavioral and emotional health status.

 

Figure 13. Parenting stress level by behavior problem rating
of Iowa children ages 6-18

Marriage

 

Eighty-one percent of children in Iowa live with parents who are married, and 83% of those have parents who rate their relationship as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good.’ The percent of children with married parents varied by income group: just over half of those in the 0-133% FPL group had married parents, while about three-quarters of those in the 134-200% FPL group, and almost 9 in 10 in the 200+%FPL group did.

 

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[9] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The National Survey of Children’s Health 2003. Rockville , Maryland : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005.