The impact of family income and parental factors on children's resilience and mental well‐being

Bibliographic Data

ID11044538
AuthorsWilliam Bruno (0000-0001-9429-6874, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University New York New York USA, corresponding author), Rebecca Dehnel (0000-0002-9147-6180, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Long Beach California USA), Wael K Al-Delaimy (0000-0001-8292-0510, University of California San Diego), Wael Al‐Delaimy (Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science University of California San Diego La Jolla California USA)
Year2023
Volume51
Issue5
Pages2052-2064
Publication date2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-4392 • E-ISSN: 1520-6629
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jcop.22995
PMID36623257
OpenAlexW4313887052
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited35

Although there is robust evidence on the intergenerational transmission of trauma-related distress, much less is known about the relation of family income and parental resilience on the resilience and mental well-being of traumatized children. We aimed to determine the association between parental resilience and perceived financial stability, and the resilience and depression of their children among Syrian refugees in Jordan. We carried out a survey of 363 parent-child dyads from a refugee clinic in Northern Jordan. Measures of resilience, trauma, symptoms of mental illnesses, and demographics were reported by the mother and child. We evaluated the associations between parental resilience and their children's mental health. Resilience was highest among parents who reported that their income met their financial needs, (65.77 [standard deviation (SD) 15.96]), and lower for those who reported less income or who stated that their income met their needs only fairly well (62.77 [SD 17.56]). Resilience was lowest for those who reported that that income met their needs poorly (48.02 [SD 23.24]). Parent resilience was positively correlated with child resilience (β = 0.076 [95% confidence interval 0.035-0.12], p < 0.001). Depression and resilience of parents were most closely correlated with the depression and resilience scores of their children, among parents who reported the highest financial stability. Income plays a modifying role in the parent-child resilience and depression associations, with this association being least pronounced within those families who were financially less secure. These findings can help develop interventions to target parental transgenerational impacts according to income status.

Demographics · Depression (economics) · Distress · Family income · Family resilience · Mental health · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Psychological resilience · Clinical Psychology · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology

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