Perceived social support correlated with parent mental health: self-report among urban immigrant parents of young children (Birth-5)

Social integration is a unique and unavoidable process that immigrant populations must work through in the host country. Specifically, social support plays an important role in promoting mental wellness for immigrant parents with young children. The objective of this study was to investigate how social support impacts the mental health of urban immigrant parents. This cross-sectional study recruited 54 bilingual immigrant parents using community-based sampling in a highly urban city in the North Atlantic Region of the U.S. Participants completed surveys that included the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Descriptive statistics, T-tests, and correlational analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 28. Two major findings include: (a) an urgent need to attend to the mental health of immigrant communities; and (b) the importance of social support, specifically support from outside of family, in immigrants’ wellness. We provided suggestions for collaboration and investigations on best practices to support this population.