Summary:
Parents' mental health is constantly challenged and tested on a daily basis, as a variety of factors affect it and impact it through stress, depressive symptoms and mental resilience. The aim of the present study is to investigate the possible correlation between the dimensions of mental health of parents with children up to 21 years of age, taking into account their socioeconomic status. The research sample consists of 112 Greek parents and 88 American parents. The Zung Depression Rating Scale to measure depression levels, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) to measure mental resilience and Parental Stress Scale to measure parental stress were used to collect the survey data. All three questionnaires were administered in the respective sample language and the Greek population was administered the translated and weighted instruments. According to the results, there was no statistically significant difference between the two countries on the variable of parental stress and depression levels while there was a statistically significant difference on mental resilience between the two countries ( p <. 00, p < .00, p > .16). In the correlation analysis it was found that in Greece, as mental resilience increased, parental anxiety and depression levels decreased (r = -0.24, r = -0.41), while as the economic status and educational level of the sample increased, mental resilience increased (r = 0.24, r = 0.18). Meanwhile, the higher the levels of depression, the lower the parents' economic status and children's age (r = -0.23, r = -0.12). In contrast, the higher the parental stress and educational level, the higher the levels of depression (r = 0.28, r = 0.18). Furthermore, as parental anxiety increased, the more decreased were parents' mental resilience and financial status (r = -0.24, r = -0.22). Similarly in the US it appeared that the higher the mental resilience the higher the economic status and educational level (r = 0.12, r = 0.57), while the higher this variable the lower the child's age and depression levels (r = -0.40, r = -0.17). Depression levels were elevated along with parental anxiety (r = 0.36), and it appeared that parents with high levels of depression had children of young age and low educational attainment (r = -0.22, r = -0.42). Finally, parental anxiety appeared to be elevated in parents with younger children (r = -0.24).
Keywords:
mental health, parental anxiety, depression, mental resilience, socioeconomic status, parents, Greece, United States of America
