Parents worry about pursuing mental health treatment for their children for many reasons: it may be dangerous, it may affect their growth, other kids may tease them if they find out, teachers may think differently of them, maybe it will negatively impact them when they apply for college or jobs. The APA recently addressed this issue and highlighted research that suggested many Americans hold opionions that make the decision of whether or not to treat their kids very difficult (http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/06/dilemma.html). In this piece, Jane McLeod, PhD, co-acuthor of the paper discussed, said, "Whether because of the symptoms of the disorders themselves, or because of the stigmatizing responses of others, children with emotional and behavioral problems have a lot of trouble as they transition into adulthood. (Monitor on PsychologyVolume 40, No. 6 June 2009)"
It may be that one thing parents of children with emotional and behavioral problems can do to help their kids is to seek treatment for themselves if they're depressed. Previous research supports this statement for the kids of depressed moms (Weissman, et al. 2006) and the current further explores it for both moms and dads (see "Study Details" posted on 6/17/09 for a study that investigates this issue).
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