Parent-Child Relationships and Youth Mental Health: Exploring Socio-Contextual Factors and Longitudinal Associations in Canada

Relationships between children and their parents/caregivers shape youth mental health, development, and daily functioning. Emerging research suggests that positive parenting behaviours, like warmth, are associated with better emotional regulation and less anxiety or depression in youth. In contrast, negative parenting behaviours, such as control or physical punishment, are linked with poorer mental health.However, knowledge gaps remain. First, many Canadian studies survey youth and their parents only once, which makes it difficult to track changes in relationship quality or mental health over time. Importantly, most samples lack diversity and are too small to explore differences between social groups, especially within underrepresented communities such as racial or gender minorities. Addressing these limitations is urgently needed as restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have heightened family stress, conflict, and mental health challenges, as well as social inequities.This study will address these gaps by leveraging national data from the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. This dataset includes information from 22,739 parents and children collected in two waves: the first in 2019 and the second in 2023. The study will (1) identify social factors (e.g., gender, family income) that influence the quality of parent-child relationships; and (2) explore how parent-child relationships are linked to youth mental health challenges;including anxiety, depression, behaviour issues, and inattention;over time.By solving these issues, this work aims to support the development of targeted, proactive programs that strengthen family relationships, promote youth well-being, and address inequities worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.