Interpersonal relationships and the origins of mental health
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| Pages | 24-29 |
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200500007 |
| Author | Sarah Stewart‐Brown |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
This paper reviews current evidence of the significance of interpersonal relationships – at community,
workplace, school and family levels – in influencing mental health and well-being.It argues that the
parent-child relationship is of pre-eminent importance both because of its direct effect on future
mental health and because it sets the scene for future relationships. It also argues that,because of the
reciprocal nature of the relationships, the mental health of society can be improved by improving the
mental health of any of its individual members. From this it follows that to focus mental health
promotion programmes entirelyon the most vulnerable limits the potential for improvement,
because working with people who are not mentally ill will increase their ability to support those who
are. Universal mental health promotion programmes should therefore have relationships – and
parent-child relationships in particular – at their hear t,aiming to improve ever yone’s capacity to relate
supportively and respectfully to others.
Interpersonal relationships
and the origins of mental
health
Sarah Stewart-Brown
Professor of public health
University of Warwick
Sarah.Stewart-
Brown@warwick.ac.uk
REVIEW
24 journal of public mental health
vol 4 • issue 1
Interpersonal relationships are widely held to be an
important determinant of positive mental health
and well-being, and the ability to make such
relationships is held by those working in health
promotion to be a key ‘mental health competency’
(HEA, 1997). Studies of the health impact of
relationships, however, tend to concentrate on mental
illness rather than mental health, investigating the extent
to which they play a role in the aetiology of depression
and psychological distress, and how they interact with
other aetiological factors such as genes, socio-economic
circumstances and life events. Equally important, from a
pubic mental health perspective, are the protective effects
of positive relationships, and particularly parent–child
relationships, in ensuring individuals are sufficiently
robust not only to enjoy good mental health themselves
but also to support and sustain mental health in others
around them, and in the wider community.
Community studies
Studies of adults living in the community have adopted
three different approaches to assessing relationships.
One approach is to count the number of people’s social
contacts or estimate the extent of their social networks,
regardless of the quality of the relationships. Those with
few contacts are more vulnerable than those with many
to mental illness – notably, depression (Melzer et al,
2004; Whelan, 1993). Many of these studies are cross-
sectional – that is, they collect data on the number of
social contacts at the same time as data on mental
health status – and their results are therefore open to
different interpretations of cause and effect. People with
mental illness may be ill because they have no
supportive relationships, or they may be socially isolated
because they lack the social skills to develop and
maintain such relationships (Brugha et al, 1993).
The second approach investigates the impact of
supportive relationships, assessing quality rather than
quantity. Support can be practical, instrumental or
emotional, but it is mainly the latter that is of interest.
Investigators have aimed to assess the extent to which
people feel emotionally supported in one or more
relationship and the extent to which they have
relationships with people they can confide in. The
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