This paper examines the association of mothers’ parenting behaviours, parents’ mental health and parents’ health behaviours (alcohol use and smoking) with social-emotional wellbeing of primary school children using Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Children’s social-emotional wellbeing was assessed using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire over five data collection periods or ‘waves’; that is, every two years from when children were aged 4–5 to 12–13 years. Descriptive analysis was used to examine differences in social-emotional wellbeing by parenting behaviours, parents’ mental health and parents’ health behaviours. Longitudinal analysis was used to investigate trajectories of children’s social-emotional difficulties between the ages of 4–5 and 12–13.