Parental Mental Health and Children Academic Performance: A Mediational Analysis in Oyo State

This study investigates the relationship between parental mental health and children's academic performance, examining parenting behaviour as a mediator in this relationship among primary school families in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. Parental mental health, including depression, anxiety, and stress, has been linked to adverse child developmental outcomes, but the mechanisms through which parental psychological distress translates into children's academic difficulties require empirical clarification within Nigerian family contexts. The study employs a cross-sectional survey design, recruiting 320 parent-child dyads from ten primary schools across Ibadan North and Oyo East Local Government Areas. The General Health Questionnaire-12, the Parenting Stress Index Short Form, and children's academic records were used as instruments. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling with bootstrapped mediation testing. Results indicate that parental mental health significantly predicts children's academic performance both directly and indirectly through parenting behaviour. Parents with poorer mental health demonstrated lower warmth, higher harsh discipline, and reduced homework involvement, and these parenting deficits accounted for a significant portion of the performance gap. Economic hardship was confirmed as a significant exogenous variable amplifying the relationship between parental distress and negative parenting. These findings underscore the importance of addressing parental mental health as part of child educational support strategies. The Oyo State Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education are advised to integrate parental wellbeing screening into school health programmes and to expand community-based mental health access for parents of school-age children. Keywords: parental mental health, academic performance, parenting behaviour, mediation, Oyo State.