More than 40% of American teenagers report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Youth anxiety and depression have reached levels that the U.S. Surgeon General has described as a public health crisis. Screen time is up, social connection is down, and the parenting strategies that generate the most anxiety in families — constant monitoring, performance pressure, criticism — appear to be making things worse, not better.
Into this landscape, a leading clinical psychologist at one of the country's premier medical institutions has a perhaps unexpected prescription: grandparents.
Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Psychology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, stated publicly on June 13, 2026, that grandparents are playing a more critical role in children's mental health than at any prior point in the modern era — and that the decline of extended family involvement has helped fuel the youth mental health crisis now consuming public health attention.
"With more than 40% of U.S. teenagers reporting ongoing feelings of sadness or hopelessness, one child psychologist believes grandparents may be an important part of the solution," ScienceDaily reported in its June 13 coverage of Dr. Barish's statement.
What the Evidence Shows About Grandparents and Children's Mental Health
Dr. Barish's case is not simply intuitive — it is grounded in a growing body of behavioral science. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Behavioral Sciences (DOI: 10.3390/bs15020180) synthesized findings from 20 studies involving 11,434 children and adolescents, examining the association between grandparenting dimensions and children's mental health outcomes including depression and anxiety.
The meta-analysis found that positive dimensions of grandparenting showed moderately significant protective associations with children's depression (r = −0.33) and anxiety (r = −0.12). These effect sizes are clinically meaningful — comparable in magnitude to many individual and group psychotherapy interventions studied in comparable populations.
A separate longitudinal study from the University of Michigan, part of the Social Relations Study tracking Detroit-area individuals from 1992 through 2015, found that childhood closeness to a grandparent was associated with measurably lower rates of depressive symptoms and stress in midlife — suggesting that the protective effects of grandparent relationships extend not just through childhood but across decades.
What Dr. Barish adds to the research base is clinical depth. According to Taylor & Francis Newsroom's coverage of his new book, The Art and Science of Parenting and Grandparenting (Routledge, 2026), he has spent four decades studying what helps children and what slowly wears them down — and his clinical experience points consistently toward the same finding the research supports: children who have reliable, emotionally available relationships with adults who listen without criticism and who connect them to a purpose beyond individual achievement are more resilient.
| Grandparents and Child Mental Health — Key Data Points | Detail |
| Dr. Kenneth Barish's affiliation | Clinical Professor of Psychology, Weill Cornell Medicine; Fellow, APA |
| Statement made public | June 13, 2026 (ScienceDaily; Taylor & Francis Newsroom) |
| U.S. teens reporting persistent sadness/hopelessness | 40%+ (CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey) |
| Meta-analysis finding (depression) | Positive grandparenting: r = −0.33 protective association (11,434 children, 20 studies) |
| Meta-analysis finding (anxiety) | Positive grandparenting: r = −0.12 protective association |
| Longitudinal finding | Childhood closeness to grandparent linked to lower midlife depressive symptoms and stress |
| Primary mechanism identified | Relationships that listen without criticism; sense of purpose beyond achievement |
| Specific recommendation | Volunteering together; family conversations about kindness from early age |
| Book published | The Art and Science of Parenting and Grandparenting (Routledge, 2026) |
The Problem with Too Much Pressure — and Why Grandparents Offer Something Parents Often Can't
Dr. Barish's clinical insight is precise in identifying what makes grandparent relationships psychologically distinctive — and why they cannot be fully replicated by parents, however attentive and loving those parents may be.
Parents, by necessity, carry the executive function load of raising a child: ensuring homework is done, grades are maintained, health appointments are kept, behavior is corrected, futures are planned. This creates a relational dynamic in which parental interactions with children are heavily weighted toward evaluation and correction — both necessary and inevitable, but psychologically costly over time.
"The most common problem I see in my work with families is not too much praise, but too much criticism," Dr. Barish states in his book. According to Earth.com's coverage, he argues that children steady themselves by looking outward, not only by climbing higher — and that the relentless pressure toward individual achievement, even in service of genuine good intentions, is a fragile foundation for a child's emotional life.
Grandparents occupy a different position in the child's relational landscape. Freed from much of the executive parenting load, they are better positioned to simply be present with a child — to listen without agenda, to offer unconditional affection, to share stories that locate the child within a family history larger than their individual performance. This relational quality — what developmental psychologists call "scaffolding" without the performance evaluation component — appears to provide a unique protective function for children's emotional regulation and sense of self.
According to ScienceDaily's coverage, Dr. Barish argues the antidote to achievement pressure lies in helping children develop a sense of purpose that extends beyond personal accomplishment. He cites research from psychologist Jane Piliavin, whose studies found that helping others leads to higher self-esteem, lower rates of depression, reduced school dropout rates, improved immune function, and even longer life expectancy.
What Families Can Do — Practical Steps Based on the Research
The recommendations that emerge from Dr. Barish's work and the supporting research are concrete and actionable — not dependent on access to expensive therapy or intervention programs. They center on practices that extended family members, and grandparents in particular, are uniquely well-positioned to provide.
Listen more, evaluate less. The most psychologically protective thing a grandparent can do is create a consistent space where a child can talk without expecting criticism or correction. This means resisting the instinct to offer advice about school performance, social choices, or future plans, and instead asking questions and listening to the answers.
Volunteer together. Helping others — in whatever form is accessible to a given family — produces measurable mental health benefits. Community service, care for aging neighbors, food bank volunteering, or any form of service-oriented toward others' needs gives children an identity foundation that is more durable than academic or athletic success.
Talk frequently and from an early age about kindness. Dr. Barish recommends regular family conversations — not lectures, but genuine dialogue — about the importance of understanding others' feelings and the value of kindness. "These conversations strengthen a child's sense of meaning and purpose. They are just as important as making sure kids have done their homework and correcting their mistakes, maybe more," he writes.
Tell family stories. Research on family narrative — particularly the work of Emory University psychologist Dr. Marshall Duke — has found that children who know their family history and understand that they belong to a story larger than their own individual life show measurably higher resilience in the face of adversity. Grandparents are often the most accessible and richest source of this family narrative.
The Structural Reality — Why Grandparents Are Less Present Than They Were
Dr. Barish's observation that the decline of extended family involvement has contributed to the youth mental health crisis is supported not only by clinical data but by demographic reality. Geographic mobility has dispersed families across the country and globe. Economic pressures require longer working hours from parents. Social structures that once brought extended family into daily life — multigenerational households, extended family neighborhoods, religious community structures — have weakened in many communities.
The result is that many children grow up in relational environments that are adult-depleted relative to prior generations: fewer adults in consistent contact with the child, less redundancy in supportive relationships, less exposure to life experiences beyond the immediate nuclear family. In this context, the intentional cultivation of grandparent-grandchild relationships — even across distance, through regular video calls and scheduled visits — becomes a meaningful public health intervention in its own right.
For families where grandparents are not available or not safe relationships for a child, the same principles apply to other adult family members, mentors, and trusted community members. The research supports the value of reliable, listening, non-evaluative adult relationships — regardless of biological tie.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dr. Kenneth Barish, and why does his perspective matter?
Dr. Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., is a Clinical Professor of Psychology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, with four decades of clinical experience working with children and families. His new book, The Art and Science of Parenting and Grandparenting (Routledge, 2026), synthesizes research and clinical experience on what actually helps children thrive emotionally.
What does the research say about grandparents and children's mental health?
A 2025 meta-analysis of 20 studies involving 11,434 children found positive grandparenting associated with moderately significant protective effects against depression (r = −0.33) and anxiety (r = −0.12). A University of Michigan longitudinal study found childhood grandparent closeness linked to lower depressive symptoms and stress in midlife — decades later.
Why are grandparents particularly effective at supporting children's mental health?
Grandparents are often freed from the executive parenting load — homework, grades, behavior correction — that shapes most parental interactions. This allows them to be present with children in a less evaluative way: listening without agenda, providing unconditional affection, and connecting children to family story and history. These qualities provide what developmental psychology calls supportive scaffolding without performance pressure.
What can grandparents do to help children who are struggling emotionally?
Listen more than advise. Create regular, predictable contact. Volunteer together in community service. Have genuine conversations about kindness and others' feelings from an early age. Share family stories and history. Create space for the child to talk without expecting correction or evaluation.
What if my child doesn't have an accessible grandparent?
The research supports the value of any consistent, reliable, non-evaluative adult relationship — not specifically biological grandparents. Aunts, uncles, family friends, mentors, and trusted community members can provide similar protective effects when they occupy a consistent and listening role in a child's life.
