Parental stress continues to rise, but what’s weighing on moms and dads today is largely the mental health of their children.
A new national survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of The Kids Mental Health Foundation, founded by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, finds nearly all parents (97%) of children under 18 felt stress related to parenting in the past month, with one in four parents (30%) saying they experienced stress “often.”
The national survey of more than 1,000 parents across the United States also reveals among those that felt parental stress in the past month, two of the top sources of that stress were children's behavioral issues (35%) and children's emotional or mental health (26%). Nearly half of stressed parents feel it also makes their children more anxious or worried (46%).
“Parents today are aware of the importance of focusing on children’s mental health when it comes to raising them. The problem is that this generation of parents is the first to try and do this,” said Ariana Hoet, executive clinical director of The Kids Mental Health Foundation and a pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children’s. “So, we hear, ‘I don't have a model. I don't know how to talk about mental health. I don't know how to build mental wellness in my home.’ Parents are constantly worried, ‘Am I doing it wrong?’”
Dr. Hoet recommends that parents take care of their mental health, too, because their stress can set the tone for the home. Dr. Hoet encourages parents to be intentional with noticing what causes stress, making changes where possible, and finding time for connection and joy. Then, parents can support their children with daily habits that build healthy homes, which includes daily conversations with their kids, strengthening routines and managing behaviors.
“What we're recommending is based on research. It's what helps parents build their children’s mental health,” said Dr. Hoet. “Parents can feel like, ‘OK, I know exactly what to do’ and take that stress away from the decision making.”
Dr. Hoet stresses that small changes in the way we interact with our kids can make a difference in the mood of the home and decrease everyone's stress.
Allison Tomlin, a mom of two boys in Hilliard, Ohio, relies on Kids Mental Health Foundation resources as a parent and a teacher. She said that, ultimately, children just want to feel heard.
“A lot of times, parents are so focused on the fix that they dismiss the feelings. Then kids shut down because if they're not being seen as a person first and just a problem. Kids are often like, ‘Well, I'm just not going to have that conversation,’” Tomlin said. “We're having the hard conversations. We're talking about the feelings. We're talking about the emotions. And sometimes as uncomfortable as it is for adults, it's just a privilege to be able to be raising kids in a time where we're putting mental health as a priority.”
Dr. Hoet says parents don’t have to be perfect all the time. If they make a mistake, both sides can grow from it.
“Just model what it's like to make mistakes, what it's like to apologize and take accountability, and you'll be OK,” Dr. Hoet said. “You're repairing the relationship. The relationship is what matters.”
The Kids Mental Health Foundation offers free, evidence-informed resources to help parents and caregivers understand common stress triggers and to parent with less stress and more confidence at home.
For more information and free kids’ mental health resources, please visit KidsMentalHealthFoundation.org.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Ipsos on the KnowledgePanel® from Feb 27 to March 2, 2026, and surveyed 1,081 U.S. parents with at least one child under the age of 18 in their household. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of parents. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect of 1.04.
The Kids Mental Health Foundation is the leading organization promoting mental health for children in the United States. To achieve its vision to build a world where mental health is a vital part of every child’s upbringing, nearly 1,000 mental health professionals and researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in partnership with other trusted experts, provide real-world knowledge and expertise to power the Foundation's free educational videos, guides and curriculum. To date, more than 33 million people have engaged with the Foundation’s materials, helping parents, educators and coaches be a guiding force for children all across the United States.