Parental involvement and mental health among school-going adolescents in five Caribbean countries

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the association between parental involvement and mental health among adolescents in five Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Jamaica and Trinidad, and Tobago. Data were from the cross-sectional Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) which sampled 10 063 adolescents (mean age 14.3 years, SD = 1.3) from 2009 to 2013. In multivariable logistic regression analyses (adjusted for age, sex, and socioeconomic status), bullied, having close friends and peer support, and higher levels of parental involvement were negatively associated with loneliness, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in all five countries. In Jamaica, parental involvement was not associated with suicide attempt. Parental involvement interventions for improving mental health among the Caribbean adolescents should consider peer influences.

Keywords:

• adolescents
• Caribbean
• mental health
• parental involvement

Acknowledgements

We thank the World Health Organization for making the data available to analysis. We are also grateful of the Ministries of Education and Health and the study participants for making the GSHS possible in the study countries.

ORCID

Karl Peltzer http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5980-0876