More than half of parents in Canada are reporting that their children are still experiencing negative impacts of the pandemic.

 

LifeWorks’s latest Mental Health Index finds about a quarter of parents responded that the events of the last two years have specifically impacted their children’s social and academic development in a negative way.

 

It adds 27 per cent of Canadians report their children face anxiety about the future, and that kids 15 and older have more anxiety about the future than the national average.

 

The company’s Paula Allen shares what parents can do to assist with their kids’ mental health.

 

“So if you do see behaviour that is outside the norm for your child, I mean there are different norms for different children, but the outside the norm for your child and it is concerning you or it’s concerning them, reach out for professional support. The earlier you deal with issues, the easier it will be to deal with. The other thing is that parents really should take care of themselves as well as the parents in an anxious or depressed daze where they are feeling out of control in any sort of way, it’s going to really spill over and be picked up by their child and not be helpful for them.”

 

For more on the report, catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.