Child Wonder Boosts Parent Mental Health

That feeling of amazement when your child does something unexpected might be more than just a proud parent moment – it could be the key to your well-being, according to groundbreaking new research.

Scientists at the University of Rochester have discovered that parents who experience awe toward their children enjoy significantly enhanced mental health benefits compared to other positive emotions. The findings come at a critical time when parental mental health concerns have reached alarming levels nationwide.

“Parents everywhere are struggling with mental health and well-being, with even the US surgeon general calling for an urgent need to better support parents,” notes Princeton Chee, who led the research team through a series of comprehensive studies involving nearly 900 parents.

The research, published in the April 21 issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science, distinguishes between two positive emotions parents commonly experience: pride and awe. While both emotions benefit parents, awe demonstrated surprisingly stronger connections to overall life satisfaction.

“We find that awe can actually strengthen parental well-being more broadly and holistically, compared to pride, making parents lives feel happier, more meaningful, and richer in experiences,” Chee explains.

The distinction appears to stem from how these emotions function. Pride typically centers on personal ego and specific accomplishments, while awe connects parents to something larger than themselves – whether that’s the parent-child relationship or the concept of parenthood itself.

Most parents can readily identify with both emotions. “Parents may feel proud when their child does something they worked hard to succeed in and accomplish. They may feel awe when their child does something amazing or completely unexpected that make them feel like saying ‘woah’ or ‘wow,'” says Chee.

Through cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental approaches, the researchers identified specific triggers for these emotional responses. Pride most commonly arose from witnessing a child’s growth, talent, resilience, or good behavior. Awe, meanwhile, was typically sparked by expressions of love or kindness, developmental milestones, displays of talent, or special shared moments.

Perhaps most intriguing was the discovery that awe appears to alter parents’ perception of time. “Awe in particular can help parents fully immerse themselves by making time feel like it’s slowing down during extraordinary moments,” Chee notes. This slowed time perception served as one mechanism through which awe enhanced parental well-being.

The researchers employed thematic analysis to categorize parental experiences, finding that pride predicted greater pleasure (high satisfaction and low negative affect), while awe predicted improvements across a broader spectrum – enhancing pleasure, purpose, and psychological richness.

For parents worried about finding awe-inspiring moments in their busy lives, Chee offers reassurance. “Awe may be easier to find and cultivate than you might think,” he explains. “It doesn’t have to be only once in a lifetime, extraordinary experiences in which parents feel awe. These certainly are rewarding moments that elicit awe, but awe, along with its many rewards, can also be cultivated through things as simple as weekend outings and quality time spent with one’s child.”

The study complements a growing body of research on the psychological benefits of awe across various contexts. What makes these findings particularly significant is their application to everyday family life at a time when many parents report feeling overwhelmed and undervalued.

The research team, which included Claire Shimshock and Bonnie Le alongside Chee, carefully examined how these emotional rewards functioned across diverse parent and child characteristics. Their internal meta-analysis confirmed the consistency of these benefits regardless of demographic factors.

Importantly, acknowledging these positive emotional experiences doesn’t minimize parenting challenges. Rather, the study suggests that intentionally cultivating and savoring moments of awe may serve as an accessible, cost-free resource for enhancing parental well-being.

As mental health professionals increasingly recognize the unique stresses facing today’s parents, this research offers a practical pathway toward finding greater meaning and fulfillment in the parenting journey – not through expensive interventions, but through a shift in emotional awareness and appreciation.

For the millions of parents struggling to balance work and family obligations, the message is surprisingly hopeful: the path to greater well-being might begin with simply paying attention to those “wow” moments that already exist in daily family life.