An Exploration of Positive Parenting in Relation to Psychopathology for Youth with a Diagnosis of Bipolar Spectrum Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Bipolar Spectrum Disorder (BSD) is a severe psychiatric disorder associated with a host of deleterious sequelae. While researchers have found a robust link between parenting variables and psychopathology for youth with BSD, few have examined positive parenting factors and associated psychopathology for these youth. Furthermore, conclusions from extant literature are hindered by a) exploring a limited range of parenting variables and b) employing retrospective reports of parenting with adult populations. This study addressed these gaps by examining how a range of contemporaneously-measured positive parenting variables were related to psychopathology among youth with a BSD diagnosis.

METHODS: One hundred fifty families with a youth aged 5-16 years participated in this study and completed screening for a mood disorder through a tertiary care facility. Participants completed measures of depression, mania, behavioural difficulties, and the parent-child relationship.

RESULTS: Parental characteristics (limit setting, autonomy granting, egalitarian views) were related to lower levels of psychopathology for youth screened for BSD.

CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the results from this study contribute to our understanding of the relation between positive parenting characteristics and psychopathology for youth with a diagnosis of BSD.