How can we help young people to overcome adversity and look to the future?
One answer may be found closer to home than we think – in supporting parents. In today’s analysis, Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) researcher Dr Carys Chainey (@CarysChainey) from The University of Queensland (@UQ_News) discusses policy responses to her research into the power of evidence-based parenting supports in helping young people to thrive after adversity and to think and act towards the future.
There is a well-established body of research showing that the more adversity a young person experiences, the greater their risk for poorer health and wellbeing outcomes over the life course (see for example here, here and here).
Early experiences of adversity can include everything from large-scale events like natural disasters, wars and pandemics to more individual stressors within the home such as maltreatment and family breakdown and dysfunction. Adversities related to young people’s experiences growing up in home environments are particularly influential on their life course outcomes.
However, research on the potential mitigating role of parenting on this association is scarce. To help to address this knowledge gap, I have undertaken a series of studies, in collaboration with Associate Professor Kylie Burke and Professor Michele Haynes, exploring the relationships between childhood adversity, parenting, and the wellbeing and future orientation of young people.
Thriving after adversity
The first study, published in Australian Psychologist, was based on a survey of 298 Australian emerging adults, aged 18–25, who have experienced varying amounts of childhood adversity such as emotional, physical and sexual abuse, living with someone with a mental health condition, and witnessing domestic violence.
Our results show that adversity during childhood was associated with greater emotional difficulties during emerging adulthood. Regardless of past adversities, however, parenting practices and parenting relationships during adolescence can be an important predictor of wellbeing in later years.
Hostility in parent-adolescent relationships, such as frequent criticism and getting upset at disagreements, were associated with the negative effects of worry, sadness and self-doubt in emerging adults. On a positive note, parent-adolescent relationships that promoted connectedness, and parenting that provided supportive monitoring of adolescents, were associated with more positive wellbeing.
When parents offer adolescents encouragement, affection and open communication about ideas, activities and life, young people display more positive skills in emerging adulthood. They are better able to set goals, be independent and effectively share their thoughts and feelings. Significantly, the benefits of supportive parenting, as well as the negative impacts of hostility, were observed to be independent of the influence of childhood adversity. This means children who experience adversity may have a greater chance of improved wellbeing when they are older if their receive effective parenting practices and have a high-quality parent-adolescent relationship.
Future orientation
In the second study, published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, we utilised a dataset of 1,117 adolescents, aged 16-17, from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine experiences of adversity, parenting practices and future orientation (i.e. tendency to think about the future, anticipate consequences and make plans).
Adolescents who develop healthy habits around planning, anticipating consequences, and working towards their future are more likely to thrive and successfully transition into adulthood. However, their future orientation may be affected by adversity and the parenting they receive.
Our results showed that adolescents were at risk of low future orientation if they had experienced singular or multiple types of adversity, including parental separation and divorce, a household substance use problem, a household mental health condition, or domestic violence. The results also showed that adolescents were more likely to have a strong future orientation if they received effective parenting that was non-hostile and high in communication and monitoring.
This suggests that while young people are less likely to have future-related thoughts and actions if they have experienced singular or multiple types of adversity, their future orientation is supported by effective parenting and non-hostile parent-adolescent relationships. Young people who experience both adversity and poor parenting may be at higher risk than others.
A clear policy agenda should be the policy response?
Our studies suggest that effective parenting practices can help to support young people who have experienced adversity and can also support their future orientation. Parents and caregivers who communicate, monitor, and foster non-hostile relationships can help adolescents to thrive after adversity and develop a strong orientation towards their future.
Further research is needed, particularly longitudinal work following individuals from childhood to adulthood and utilising multiple data sources. However, our findings offer hope that if we can increase the likelihood that vulnerable adolescents are supported by effective parenting, they will have a better chance at benefiting from healthy wellbeing and positive future orientation as they enter the adult world.
This means growing the reach and impact of evidence-based parenting programs, which are not yet widely available at a population level. Increased government funding for parenting education and supports that are evidence-based and easily accessible, and free from stigma, can give parents and caregivers the tools and confidence they need to best support their children.
There is also a need for more funding for research into parenting interventions in Australia. In recent work, conducted with my colleagues from the Parenting and Family Research Alliance, we analyse research funding awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Australian Research Council (ARC) from 2011-2020 and show that parenting intervention research received just 0.25% of these total research budgets.
It is critical that government funding schemes include parenting interventions as priority areas for funding. A greater allocation of funding to parenting research would grow the evidence base and support the development, implementation, and dissemination of parenting interventions to improve life course outcomes for more children and their families.
Families across Australia would benefit from greater investment in research and implementation of evidence-based parenting programs. Population-level and targeted programs are required to ensure supports are adequate and appropriate for families’ diverse needs and contexts.
Prioritising evidence-based parenting supports is crucial if we are to reduce the impact of adversity over the life course, and to support all young people and their families to live their best lives now and into the future.
This post is part of the Women's Policy Action Tank initiative to analyse government policy using a gendered lens. View our other policy analysis pieces here.
Posted by @LifeCourseAust