Parental Mental Health
Barnardos children’s charity has today released findings from their survey in their latest report: ‘Parental Mental Health and the Impact on Children’. We commissioned Amárach research to carry out a nationally representative survey of 390 parents across the country in March 2025.
Results from the survey show that one in ten parents (10%) said they were currently experiencing poor mental health. Additionally, 39% of parents said at some point in the past, since having children, their mental health was poor
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What you told us about your Parental Mental Health
Nearly like you’re stuck and can’t make decisions because you’re so overwhelmed and then you feel worse because you can’t be the parent you need to be it’s a horrible feeling
My insecurities and anxiety have rubbed off on them
- Almost half (49%) of parents said they currently or in the past have had poor mental health since becoming parents.
- One in five parents said they felt overwhelmed most of the time
- More than half (52%) of parents with poor mental health said it had led to increased anxiety and mental health issues for their children
- One in six parents (16%) with poor mental health said it significantly negatively impacted their children and a furter half (54%) said it had a moderate negative impacy.
Psychologist looking after me actually suggested my children would be affected but never offered any support or guidance on how to help me or them. Community health care worker who understood the situation may have been able to help me
Barnardos Recommends
- Early intervention and prevention.
Currently, the level of need for whole family support services for families affected by parental mental health far outstrips what is available in local communities. The earlier families can access these services the greater the likelihood of preventing poor parental mental health from negatively affecting children. This has the potential to help reduce the level of mild to moderate mental health issue among children across Ireland. Funding for
intensive family support services working with parents facing mental health issues must be increased.
- Adult mental health services
Adult mental health services are too often unaware whether or not their patients are parents, resulting in tens of thousands of potentially vulnerable children remaining hidden from possible support services. The parenting status of all adults engaged with mental health services should be recorded and a referral offer made to all families with children under 18 a referral to sufficiently funded local family support services.
- Stigma and public awareness
The issue of parental mental health and its impact on children can be substantial. As a society, we have made huge progress in making children and young people feel ok and comfortable talking about their mental health. We now need to make progress helping parents feel comfortable discussing and talking about mental health in the context of being a parent. The government should develop a campaign raising the awareness of parental mental health, the impact on children, and local parenting support services.
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