Children of parents with mental illness

BACKGROUND: For children and adolescents, deliberate self-harm (DSH) is becoming a mental health problem of concern. Despite several studies on the prevalence and factors of DSH in the world, there is little information on DSH among children and adolescents in China. This study explores the prevalence, types, associated risk factors and tendency of DSH in pediatric psychiatric inpatients in China. AIM: To understand the situation of DSH among hospitalized children and adolescents and its related factors...

Over 50% of children with a parent with severe mental illness will develop mental illness by early adulthood. However, intergenerational transmission of risk for mental illness in one's children is insufficiently considered in clinical practice, nor is it sufficiently utilised into diagnostics and care for children of ill parents. This leads to delays in diagnosing young offspring and missed opportunities for protective actions and resilience strengthening. Prior twin, family, and adoption studies suggest that the aetiology of mental illness is governed by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors, potentially mediated by changes in epigenetic programming and brain development...

BACKGROUND: In children's palliative care, the term "respite" refers to a temporary break offered to primary caregivers of a child with a life-limiting illness. The aim of this study was to assess the perceptions of parents who have benefited from respite care services in the Lumina Association, Bacău hospice unit and the benefits it can bring in improving their psycho-emotional state. METHODS: The study consisted of quantitative research involving 34 parents/caregivers who responded to a questionnaire with 26 questions, and qualitative research which involved the organization of a focus group with 12 parents who benefited from respite services...

BACKGROUND: Parental mental illness (PMI) is common and places children at high risk of developing psychological disorders. Family Talk (FT) is a well-known, whole-family, 7-session intervention designed to reduce the risk of transgenerational psychopathology. However, very few larger-scale evaluations of FT (across only a limited number of settings) have been conducted to date while there have been no cost analyses. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and costs of delivering FT in improving child and family psychosocial functioning in families with PMI within routine mental health settings...

OBJECTIVE: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors of adolescents with affective disorders can directly deteriorate parents' internal experiences, and negative parental experiences can exacerbate or even worsen NSSI behaviors. This study investigates the impact of NSSI behaviors exhibited by adolescents with affective disorders on the internal experiences of parents. Specifically, our research focuses on the inner experiences of parents when their children engage in NSSI behaviors during social isolation of the COVID-19, offering insights for addressing parental mental health issues related to NSSI and developing positive parental behavioral models to optimize adolescent behavior during major public health events...

Research conducted over the past 30 years has developed an extensive body of knowledge on families where parents experience mental ill health and/or substance (mis)use, and interventions that are effective in improving their outcomes. A more recent focus has also explored the importance and nuance of implementation. This perspective article reflects on the concept and practice of sustainability within this body of work and considers underlying assumptions in the field about the goal and direction of interventions that make clarity about sustainability difficult...

BACKGROUND: Half of mental health problems are established by the age of 14 years and 75% by 24 years. Early intervention and prevention of mental ill health are therefore vitally important. However, increased demand over recent years has meant that access to child mental health services is often restricted to those in severest need. Watch Me Play! (WMP) is an early intervention designed to support caregiver attunement and attention to the child to promote social-emotional well-being and thereby mental health resilience...

AIM: Children of parents with psychiatric illness have a higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders. This is particularly the case for psychoses and the evolution of these disorders could likely differ. The aim of this study was to study the impact of a first-degree and second-degree family history of psychiatric disorders (FHPD) on the characteristics of patients with early psychosis in a specialized programme. METHOD: This research is a prospective study based on 408 patients aged 18-35 years enrolled in the Treatment and Early Intervention in Psychosis Program (TIPP) with a three-years follow-up...

BACKGROUND: Studies investigating parenthood and how it affects long-term outcomes are lacking among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This study aimed to examine the life of participants 20 years after their first diagnosis with a special focus on parenthood, clinical illness course, and family-related outcomes. METHODS: Among 578 individuals diagnosed with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorder between 1998 and 2000, a sample of 174 participants was reassessed at the 20-year follow-up...

BACKGROUND: Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a feeding and eating disorder, characterized by limited variety and/or quantity of food intake impacting physical health and psychosocial functioning. Children with ARFID often present with a range of psychiatric and somatic symptoms, and therefore consult various pediatric subspecialties; large-scale studies mapping comorbidities are however lacking. To characterize health care needs of people with ARFID, we systematically investigated ARFID-related mental and somatic conditions in 616 children with ARFID and >30,000 children without ARFID...

AIMS: This study aims to investigate the association between dietary behaviours, overweight/obesity, and mental health and well-being among Swedish adolescents. METHODS: Data from the 2017/2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey of 3692 adolescents aged ≈11, ≈13, and ≈15 years was analysed. We evaluated the prevalence and association of dietary behaviours, characterised by daily intake of fruits and vegetables, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and sweets once per week, and daily consumption of family meals and breakfast, with socioeconomic and demographic factors...

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric illness during pregnancy is associated with adverse obstetric outcomes, but investigations for its impact on parenting capacity are limited. Child Protective Services (CPS) contact disproportionately impacts families marginalized by poverty, mental health disorders, and substance use disorders. Recently, there have been investigations into the significance of psychiatric illness and non-mental health-related factors that predict CPS custody arrangements. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of electronic medical records over a 10-year period (2012-2021) for patients who were pregnant during their inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations...

Data on the chronicity of mental disorder in children with chronic physical illness (CPI) are limited. We examined the prevalence and predictors of homotypic and heterotypic continuity of mental disorder in children with CPI. A sample of 263 children aged 2-16 years with physician-diagnosed CPI were recruited from outpatient clinics (e.g., dermatology, respiratory) at a Canadian pediatric academic hospital and followed for 24 months. Parent and child-reported mental disorders (mood, anxiety, behavioral, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]) were assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months...

PURPOSE: The study aimed to explore the role of parenthood at first episode of psychosis (FEP) on recovery, with a focus on potential sex differences. METHODS: Sociodemographic, clinical, and neurocognitive information was considered on 610 FEP patients form the PAFIP cohort (Spain). Baseline and three-year follow-up comparisons were carried out. Chi-square tests and ANCOVA analysis were performed controlling for the effect of age and years of education. RESULTS: Men comprised 57...

OBJECTIVES: To estimate adverse childhood experience (ACE) prevalence among children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in the United States, to examine factors influencing the prevalence of ACEs over the time period 2016-2019, and to examine the difference in bullying trends compared to ACEs in the NSCH. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) is a cross-sectional survey. Participants included respondents who completed the separate surveys for ages 6-11 and 12-17 from 2016 to 2019...

Aims: This systematic review aims to identify and describe how children of parents with mental illness, substance dependence, or severe physical illness/injury, experience and practise their everyday life. Methods: The review followed the four stepwise recommendations of Harden and colleagues when including quantitative and qualitative studies on peoples' experiences and views. In all, 23 studies with data from Norway (2010-2022) have been included. Brown and Clark's thematic analysis was applied. Results: Three themes were constructed from the reviewed articles: (a) Children practice their relational agency by actively doing practical tasks, occasionally jobs to maintain family economy, and organising fun activities with the ill parent...

Children whose parents have a mental illness are much more likely to experience mental health problems and other adverse long-term impacts. Child-centred psychosocial interventions can be effective, but not much is known about how to design and implement them in different settings. A pre-post, mixed methods, single-arm evaluation of a co-designed social support intervention with parents and children (4-18 years) measured parents' mental health (PHQ-9), perceived social support (ENRICHD), parental self-efficacy (PSAM) and children's mental health (SDQ), quality of life (Kidscreen-27), and child service use (CAMHSRI-EU) at baseline and 6 months...

The Network Episode Model (NEM) is a well utilised model conceptualising how social networks, valuable resources which can positively impact wellbeing and functional outcomes, are responsive to the needs of people with physical and mental health difficulties. Children of parents with severe and enduring mental illness (COPMI) are impacted by these illnesses through the intersecting roles of kin relation, informal carer, and dependent. However, it is not clear that social networks effectively respond in kind to the child's episodic need...

BACKGROUND: Emotional problems, especially anxiety, have become increasingly common in recent generations. Few population-based studies have examined trajectories of emotional problems from early childhood to late adolescence or investigated differences in psychiatric and functional outcomes. METHODS: Using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, n = 8286, 50.4% male), we modeled latent class growth trajectories of emotional problems, using the parent-reported Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire emotional scale (SDQ-E) on seven occasions (4-17 years)...

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Engagement with health supports benefits the whole family, yet few health services report successful engagement of fathers. Our aim was to describe available evidence on barriers and opportunities relevant to health system access for fathers. METHODS: Scoping reviews were conducted seeking empirical evidence from (1) Australian studies and (2) international literature reviews. RESULTS: A total of 52 Australian studies and 44 international reviews were included...