Parental Stigma and "Good Parenting" in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Parents of children with mental health problems often experience judgment about their parenting. Such stigma is associated with lower parental well-being and greater child symptom severity. Theory-driven descriptions of and interventions for parental stigma are limited. The authors aimed to investigate how parents experience and cope with stigma via the What Matters Most framework.

Interviews were conducted with 24 parents (50% women, mean±SD age=39.8±8.6 years) of children ages 6-17 with depression (N=9), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (N=7), or substance use problems (N=8). Interviews explored what parents view as central to being respected as a "good parent," how a child's mental health problems threaten these qualities and shape stigma toward parents, and how parents cope with stigma and restore a positive moral identity.

Parents reported being respected for support, open communication, boundaries, role modeling, and their child's well-being. When children have mental health problems, stigma reflects perceived parental failure to meet ideals, leading to emotional distress and self-doubt. With support from peers and clinicians, parents found new ways to fulfill or redefine these ideals, reducing self-stigma.

Parental stigma centers on threats to identity as good parents. Mental health services can mitigate stigma by helping parents reinterpret and reasonably fulfill parenting ideals.