Infant Mental Health
Factors contributing to mental health are a combination of negative and positive influences that will affect the mental health and development of a child.
Risk Factors
Risk factors are considered to be any negative influences or characteristics in an individuals life. This can include but is not limited to;
Insecure attachment between caregiver and child
Poverty
Abuse
This could be any kind of physical, emotional, mental, verbal or sexual abuse.
Neglect
Mental and/or physical illness in the family
Single Parent
Family Violence
Adolescent pregnancy
Factors Related to
Mental Health
Positive Factors
Positive factors are the opposite of risk factors. These refer to positive characteristics and influences in the child's life that lead to optimal mental health. Positive factors can include;
Secure attachment between caregiver and child.
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Caregiver with good mental health.
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Support available to both caregiver and child
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Health service availability
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Level of education of the parent
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Caregiver's readiness to parent and willingness to learn as they parent
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Resiliency of child and family
References
Bicksler, H. S. (2004). Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi: 10.1037/e412102005-002
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NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/October-2019/Mental-Health-Conditions-Seen-in-Childhood
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Ramey, S. (2015, October 13). Overcoming the Emotional Marks of Childhood. Retrieved from https://exploringyourmind.com/overcome-emotional-marks-childhood/