FUNDAMENTAL FACTS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH 2016

3.5 Social support and
relationships
3.5.1 Family and childhood
• Childhood circumstances such
as poor attachment, neglect,
abuse, lack of quality stimulation,
conflict and family breakdown
can negatively affect future social
behaviour, educational outcomes,
employment status and mental
and physical health. 399 Conversely,
children and young people who
have good personal and social
relationships with family and friends
have higher levels of wellbeing. 400
• A 2015 survey of children attending
CAMHS found that family
relationship problems were the
single biggest presenting problem. 401
Similarly, ‘family relationships’ were
the leading reason why children
contacted Childline in 2015. 402
• Analysis of findings from the
Millennium Cohort Study has found
that children’s behavioural problems
are strongly associated with the
quality of their parents’ relationship,
with a poorer-quality relationship
predicting greater behavioural
problems, especially among children
in lower-income families. 403
• Preventative interventions with
parents that focus on their
relationship as a couple can help to
enhance children’s wellbeing and
reduce emotional and behavioural
difficulties. 404,405
3.5.2 Couple relationships
• Being happily married or in a stable
relationship impacts positively
on mental health. A 2008 study
found that high marital quality was
associated with lower stress and less
depression. However, participants
who were single had better mental
health outcomes than those who
were unhappily married. 406
• Recent studies from Ireland and
the USA have found that negative
social interactions and relationships,
especially with partners/spouses,
increase the risk of depression,
anxiety and suicidal ideation, while
positive interactions reduce the risk
of these issues. 407,408
3.5.3 Community
• Social cohesion (a measure of how
closely knit communities are) has
been shown to counteract the
adverse effects of deprivation;
a longitudinal study published
in 2014 found that people in
neighbourhoods with higher levels of
social cohesion experienced lower
rates of mental health problems
than those in neighbourhoods with
lower cohesion, independent of
socioeconomic factors. 409
• Analysis of data from the English
Longitudinal Study of Ageing in
2011 found that neighbourhood
social cohesion was associated with
a reduction in depressive symptoms
in older people. 410
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