219 - Sensory Overload in Parenting: A Cross-Sectional Statewide Survey

Publication Number: 3211.219

Marie Heffernan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Ashley P. Keese, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Carly Menker, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States; Kevin Rak, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Leena B. Mithal, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago / Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States; Carolyn Foster, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Carolyn Sutter, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Evelyn Mercado, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, United States; Kathryn (Callie) C. Kaplan, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Laiba Bajwa, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago IL, IL, United States; Annika Macy, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Evanston, IL, United States; Marcus Shapiro, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; MIchelle Macy, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Background: Extensive research has shown a connection between parent and child mental health. A 2024 United States Surgeon General report called attention to worsening mental health and well-being among U.S. parents. One critical area of parent mental health that has received relatively little empirical exploration is sensory overload from parenting.

Objective: 1) To characterize the types of scenarios that trigger parent sensory overload and 2) to identify factors associated with sensory overload.

Design/Methods: Data were collected from Illinois parents in Sept-Oct 2024 through the Voices of Child Health Parent Panel, administered via web and phone in English or Spanish by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. Parents were eligible if they had at least one child < 18 years old. Parents indicated the sensory overload triggers that they experienced from a predefined list. Parents were permitted to select all triggers that applied. We computed a sum score of the number of triggers selected for each parent. Data were analyzed using proportions, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and linear regression. Family and demographic characteristics were included as predictors.

Results: Responses were obtained from 1,078 Illinois parents, 55% were mothers (Table 1). The overall survey completion rate was 35%. Most parents experienced at least one sensory overload trigger (72%). The most common sensory overload triggers were children arguing or not getting along with each other (42%), loud noise from children (37%), and messiness from toys and clutter (36%, Table 2). There were differences in experiences of specific triggers by parent and family characteristics (Table 2). For instance, parents with children < 5 were more likely to experience overstimulation from loud noise (50%) compared with parents of older children (35%, p<.01). Linear regression revealed predictors of higher sensory overload including: being a woman, being employed, having younger children, having more than one child, and living in an urban setting (Table 3). Household income and parent race and ethnicity were also associated with sensory overload. For instance, higher household income was associated with higher sensory overload.

Conclusion(s): Most parents experienced sensory overload, with some experiencing it more than others. Because research has established that parent mental health is connected to child mental health, it would be beneficial for future studies to explore associations with parent mental health and the adaptive and non-adaptive strategies parents use to manage their sensory overload experiences.

Table 1. Sample Demographics


Table 2. Proportions of Parents Who Experienced Each Sensory Overload Trigger, Overall and by Group
Chi-squared tests were conducted for proportional differences for each overstimulation trigger. Means-difference tests (t-tests) were conducted for differences in the average number of triggers.

Linear Regression Predicting Sum Score of Sensory Overload Triggers