One’s family plays an integral role in their mental wellness. In fact, the mental health of individuals is intricately connected to the overall functioning and dynamics of their family as a unit. When families prioritize mental health, it allows them to more easily recognize and address potential stressors and challenges that arise. Strong family mental health involves open communication. It also promotes healthy coping strategies and fosters a positive and inclusive atmosphere where individuals feel safe to express their mental health struggles, ultimately contributing to better overall well-being for the family as a whole.
To examine the state of U.S. families’ mental health and further understand the contemporary mainstream stressors, dynamics, needs and barriers among different generations within the family unit, MDLIVE commissioned a survey of 1,505 Americans aged 13+. The research revealed that the mental health crisis is wide-reaching within U.S. families – from teens to grandparents, every generation is impacted by a range of social and cultural issues but not everyone is being impacted the same way and many are internalizing those feelings, adding to their mental health burden.
For more information, view the Family Matters press release or click one of the categories below. The full report of findings is available here.
Financial concerns rank highest for U.S. families.
95%
of Americans say economic issues have a negative impact on their family’s mental health, surpassing:
The top economic issues affecting the mental health of U.S. families include:
75%
Family financial stability
Millennials are more concerned than others about the job market.
Top 3 economic concerns across generations:
School-related stressors affect all generations in and out of the classroom, but they’re most top-of-mind for college-aged adults.
74% of Americans
note that school-related issues cause stress for their family unit.
Boomers+ are more concerned about bullying than younger generations.
The top school-related concerns impacting respondents' mental health are:
Among Gen Z, older Gen Z (aged 18-24) are far more likely to be personally impacted by school-related issues than their younger counterparts (teens 13-17).
As media and emerging technologies continue to evolve, the uncertainty has put a mental strain on U.S. families.
of Americans say media and technology concerns impact their family’s mental health.
The top media and technology concerns impacting U.S. families include:
The top media and technology concerns personally affecting respondents are:
Gen Z is the least likely generation to be concerned with bias in the media
Close interpersonal relationships not only play a critical role in managing one’s mental health struggles, but can actually exacerbate one’s stress levels.
Americans note their closest relationships cause stress on their mental well-being:
stressed by relationships with friends
stressed by relationships with their spouse or partner
stressed by workplace relationships
For adults aged 18-24, their relationship with their partner has a far greater impact on their mental health than any other age group.
Among members of Gen Z, relationships with friends cause far more stress for adults 18-24 than teens 13-17.
Women1 are less likely to feel they can turn to their spouses when dealing with mental health issues.
Instead, they're more likely to turn to a friend.
42%
of respondents believe their spouse is not dealing with the issues impacting their mental health very well.
More than half
of people (56%) say their spouse’s mental health challenges affect them more than any other family member’s.
While respondents in a relationship (married or committed) report experiencing high levels of stress due to various domestic and global issues, they perceive the impact of these issues on their spouse to be much lower.
Turning to one’s own family as a source of strength and support during times of stress is often considered to be the conventional path. However, when it comes to the burden of mental health, many people are suffering in silence within their own families and yearn for more open communication.
One in four
Americans believes they cannot rely on their family unit when dealing with mental health struggles.
of respondents note that childcare duties impact their mental well-being, but women1 are disproportionately more affected than men.
Women
Men
62%
of respondents note that caregiving duties for elderly or sick relatives impact their mental well-being, but women are disproportionately affected than men.
Larger family size is correlated to poorer levels of family mental health:
People in larger families (five or more members) were less likely than people in smaller families (4 or fewer members) to report their family has achieved very good mental health.
more likely to report their family's mental health has gotten worse over the past few years.
People in larger families are also less likely than those in smaller families to manage mental health issues by discussing them with family members.
Teens are nearly three times as likely to say their mother’s mental health affects them most among all people in their family as compared to their father's.
Teens and parents2 both wish there was more open discussion about:
The topics respondents said were most widely avoided in their family discussions included:
Teens report being impacted by the following issues to a much greater degree than parents think teens are impacted:
LGBTQ+ rights
Pandemic/infectious diseases
Social media
The relationships with their friends
Spending their formative adolescence in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and dealing with unprecedented stress as a result, teens today are in-tune with their own mental well-being and the mental standing of their family unit, and are all too aware of real-world issues impacting both.
The issues having the most impact on teen’s mental health:
Teens are far more likely to say their families, more than themselves, were impacted by the following issues.
School safety
Family
75%Teens
61%Academic pressure
Family
79%Teens
62%Teens are more than or just as likely as adults to be concerned about the effects of the following on their family unit:
Teens turn to the following people to talk about their stressors or struggles:
Mom 58%
Dad 41%
Friend 24%
Teens are more likely to say discussing stressors with their family unit makes their relationships better.
More than one in four
teens 13-17 (27%) say more mental health resources at school would help them manage their mental health.
Ways teens deal with external stressors:
44%
Discuss them with those outside their family unit
of teens avoid the issues that impact their mental health altogether.