Abstract
Purpose
To examine demographic, socioeconomic, and family characteristics associated with elevated depression and anxiety symptoms and frequent loneliness among US adults with children.
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting
US Census Household Pulse Survey (July-September 2024).
Subjects
US adults with 1 or more children (0-17 years) in their household (N = 31 063, representing approximately 87 million US adults with children).
Measures
Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression and Anxiety (PHQ-4); scores of 3+ out of 6 indicated elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Participants reported how often they feel lonely. Frequent loneliness was indicated by responses of “always” or “usually” (versus “sometimes”, “rarely”, or “never”). Participants reported several demographic, socioeconomic, and family characteristics.
Analysis
We used unadjusted logistic regression models to compare the proportion of US adults with children experiencing elevated depression symptoms, elevated anxiety symptoms, or frequent loneliness by demographic, socioeconomic, and family characteristics. Analyses were weighted to represent US adults living with children.
Results
Among US adults with children, 14.2% (SE: 0.4%) reported elevated depression symptoms, 19.2% (SE: 0.5%) reported elevated anxiety symptoms, and 13.5% (SE: 0.4%) reported usually or always feeling lonely; prevalences differed by several demographic, socioeconomic, and family characteristics.
Conclusions
Collecting nationally-representative data about families is critical to inform efforts to support the mental and physical health of US parents and other adults who care for children.
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