Understanding child mental health

From https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/parenting

Children and young people with positive mental health feel good about themselves.

They’re able to build relationships and express themselves. They can also deal with challenges and adapt to change.

Children’s mental health moves along a continuum. Like an adult’s.

‘Continuum’ means that a child’s mental health is not fixed. It can move along a range from healthy to struggling, and back again.

While most children experience positive mental health, a child can also struggle. They can develop a mental health condition.

It’s important to seek support early.

Understand the Mental Health Continuum on the Be You website.

Consider the whole child

It’s important to consider the ‘whole child’ when thinking about your child’s mental health.

You can better understand your child by attempting to understand what’s going on in their world.

A range of factors shapes a child’s life and their mental health and wellbeing:

their nature (including their biological make-up)
significant events and experiences that happen to them
their family, relationships, learning environment and community
broader systems, such as government public policies and health services.

You nurture the whole child when you:

support their relationships
help them develop social and emotional skills
acknowledge adversity (for example, poverty or neglect).

Understand ‘the whole child’ in this video on the Emerging Minds website.

Your child’s emotions

As children grow, their emotional and social lives become more complex.

The ability to understand and manage emotions, thoughts and behaviours in positive ways is called ‘regulation’.

Learning to regulate emotions is a developmental process.

It begins when your child is a baby and continues into adulthood. For example, when you soothe a crying baby, you’re helping them regulate their emotions.

Skills for managing a wide range of emotions are important for a child’s mental health and wellbeing.

Children do not develop regulation skills by themselves. They learn from parents and other adults.

Your warm and responsive interactions help your child regulate from infancy through to adulthood.

Learn more about regulation on the Raising Children Network website.

Your child’s temperament

Children’s personalities, likes, dislikes and the ways they react to situations can vary a lot. Even children in the same family.

These kinds of differences make up a child’s ‘temperament’.

You can notice a child’s temperament by paying attention to:

how they react to people and events
how they approach new people or situations
how they manage their own emotions and behaviour.

It’s important to adapt your parenting style to a child’s temperament. This helps support their development and builds your relationship.

Find out more about temperament and parenting approaches on the Raising Children Network website.

Strategies for supporting child mental health

There are likely plenty of things you’re doing to support your child’s mental health and wellbeing.

You may already be using the strategies listed below. Or you might find something new to try.

Build your relationship with your child.
Help your child to manage their emotions.
Keep abreast of how your child is doing in their early learning service or school.
Know who your child’s friends are.
Arrange experiences that build on your child’s strengths.
Allow them to try new things and learn from their mistakes.
Help them build supportive relationships with other adults.
Establish family routines, rituals and rules.
Be a good role model for managing family conflict. Use calm, compromise and negotiation.
Work together to set goals and solve problems.
Be there for your child.
Help your child manage their anxious or upset feelings. Provide attention and support.
Learn what some common challenges and concerns are for different age groups.
Encourage and facilitate help-seeking, including professional support, if needed.

Parents don’t have to get everything right. The important thing is that you are there for your child and supporting them to achieve their best possible mental health.

Find strategies to protect your child’s mental health on the Parenting Strategies website.

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