Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 10 of 26
Assessing the capacity of parents with mental illness: parents with mental illness and risk
- Author:
- BOURSNELL Melanie
- Journal article citation:
- International Social Work, 57(2), 2014, pp.92-108.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article presents findings from an empirical study of 23 parents with mental illness in New South Wales, Australia. Discussion focuses on the prevailing risk discourse associated with parental mental illness which suggests a limited capacity to parent. Risk assessment practice creates expectations about parenting ability, often utilizing rigid, inflexible and predetermined categorical information. This approach limits social work practice. The discussion presents an insight into how parents manage mental illness and how they manage risk. The narratives of the parents encourage social workers to increase their skills in family-focused working practices to enhance engagement with these families. (Publisher abstract)
Recasting research into children's experiences of parental mental illness: beyond risk and resilience
- Authors:
- GLADSTONE Brenda McConnell, BOYDELL Katherine M., McKEEVEY Patricia
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 62(10), May 2006, pp.2540-2550.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Children who live with a mentally ill parent are viewed primarily as being ‘at risk’ of developing a mental illness themselves and those who remain well are considered extraordinarily resilient. This particular risk/resilience discourse is embedded within larger contemporary discourses about risk and childhood. Childhood is seen as a critical period of development during which children need protection due to their physical and psychological vulnerabilities. In this paper, the implications of this dominant casting of children are explored and it is argued that the conceptual repertoire about those living with a mentally ill parent should be expanded. A critique of the literature that established the risk/resilience discourse is followed by a discussion of research about parenting with a mental illness within which children are surprisingly absent. Recent thinking about children arising out of the ‘new’ social studies of childhood is summarized to illustrate its resistance to the hegemonic image of children as passive, developing, ‘unfinished’ persons. A recasting of children as complex young persons who have competencies as well as vulnerabilities linked to their developmental stages, would lead to different lines of inquiry about children's experiences of mental illness in a parent.
Partnership in mental health and child welfare: social work responses to children living with parental mental illness
- Author:
- SHEEHAN Rosemary
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Health Care, 39(3/4), 2004, pp.309-323.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Mental illness is an issue for a number of families reported to child protection agencies. Parents with mental health problems are more vulnerable, as are their children, to having parenting and child welfare concerns. A recent study undertaken in the Melbourne Children's Court (Victoria, Australia) found that the children of parents with mental health problems comprised just under thirty percent of all new child protection applications brought to the Court and referred to alternative dispute resolution, during the first half of 1998. This paper reports on the study findings, which are drawn from a descriptive survey of 228 Pre-Hearing Conferences. A data collection schedule was completed for each case, gathering information about the child welfare concerns, the parents' problems, including mental health problems, and the contribution by mental health professionals to resolving child welfare concerns. The study found that the lack of involvement by mental health social workers in the child protection system meant the Children's Court was given little appreciation of either a child's emotional or a parent's mental health functioning. The lack of effective cooperation between the adult mental health and child protection services also meant decisions made about these children were made without full information about the needs and the likely outcomes for these children and their parents. This lack of interagency cooperation between mental health social work and child welfare also emerged in the findings of the Icarus project, a cross-national project, led by Brunel University, in England. This project compared the views and responses of mental health and child welfare social workers to the dependent children of mentally ill parents, when there were child protection concerns. It is proposed that adult mental health social workers involve themselves in the assessment of, and interventions in, child welfare cases when appropriate, and share essential information about their adult, parent clients. Children at risk of abuse and neglect are the responsibility of all members of the community, and relevant professional groups must accept this responsibility. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580)
Moving the field forward: developing online interventions for children of parents with a mental illness
- Authors:
- GROVE Christine, REUPERT Andrea
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 82, 2017, pp.354-358.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Parental mental illness has the potential to affect children adversely. These children report a higher risk of developing a mental illness than other children. At the same time, some young people are resilient in the face of adverse situations arising from their parent's illness, especially when appropriate interventions are provided. While there are several interventions available to support young people with parents with a mental illness, there are few online interventions. Additionally, much of the previous work in this area, including intervention development and evaluation, has not included the child's point of view about what they want. Clearly, there is a gap in current research regarding the development of interventions that are available online and are informed by children. This research note aims to further the argument for developing online interventions for children of parents with a mental illness. (Publisher abstract)
Expert views of children's knowledge needs regarding parental mental illness
- Authors:
- GROVE Christine, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 79, 2017, pp.249-255.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Children of parents with a mental illness are at significant risk of developing a mental illness. This risk may be reduced if appropriate interventions are provided that include information and knowledge about mental illness. While there are some interventions for children of parents with a mental illness, research is lacking about the type of mental health information children need and why they need that knowledge. This study presents the perspectives of a purposive sample of international research experts in the field of parental mental illness about the kind of mental health literacy information children with parents with a mental illness need. Twenty-three participants completed a self-constructed short answer questionnaire about the knowledge needs of children of parents with a mental illness. The qualitative data indicates that ‘identifying information’, ‘making sense of parents behaviour’, ‘coping better’ and ‘respecting safety’ are key knowledge needs of children. Given the views presented, these findings suggest that health care professionals should advocate for policies that support individual-, peer-, and family-focused programmes driven by strong evaluation and rigorous research. If this is done, children of parents with mental illness may experience ‘myth busting’ of incorrect information about mental illness. (Publisher abstract)
Outcomes of the ON FIRE peer support programme for children and adolescents in families with mental health problems
- Authors:
- FOSTER Kim, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Social Work, 21(3), 2016, p.295–306.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Children in families with mental health problems may encounter multiple risks to their well-being. General aims of peer support programmes for these children include fostering resilience and effective coping strategies, and enhancing self-esteem and social skills. This study aimed to evaluate outcomes from a pilot multi-site implementation of the ON FIRE peer support programme. The purpose of ON FIRE is to cultivate hope, resilience and well-being in children and adolescents aged 8–17 years living in families affected by sibling or parental mental health problems. The authors employed a pre-post test (baseline and 4 months) evaluation using a suite of outcome measures. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Children's Hope Scale, Kids Connections Scale and Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C) were completed for 64 child/adolescent participants. At baseline, participants had significantly greater difficulties compared with Australian norms. At 4 months, there were significant differences in children's hope and in connections outside the family. There were no significant differences in the SDQ or the PANAS-C. (Edited publisher abstract)
A systems approach to enhance global efforts to implement family-focused mental health interventions
- Authors:
- FALKOV ADRIAN, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Youth Services, 37(2), 2016, pp.175-193.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This paper acknowledges progress over the last 20 years in addressing intergenerational risks to the mental health of children whose parents experience mental illness (COPMI-Children of Parents with a Mental Illness and FaPMI-Families Where a Parent Has a Mental Illness) and emphasises ongoing challenges to implement evidence informed family focused interventions. Challenges include variability in practice at individual, regional, and cross-national service system levels and the gap between implementation science and practice. This article begins to address this gap with descriptions of key systems approaches and implementation strategies from around the world to illustrate variability and common themes. A multifaceted, integrated systems approach is proposed as a way forward. Learnings and experience from initiatives, expertise and evidence targeting other vulnerable groups and successful change implementation will enhance existing (COPMI/FaPMI) efforts to facilitate systems change and improve the lives and futures of these children and families around the world. (Publisher abstract)
Parents with a mental health problem: learning from case reviews
- Author:
- NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN
- Publisher:
- NSPCC
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Place of publication:
- London
This briefing highlights risk factors and key learning for improved practice from case reviews where the mental health problems of parents was a key factor. It is based on case reviews published from since 2013. The briefing identifies the following risk factors for practitioners to be aware of: disclosure of suicidal feelings; threats to kill; stress factors; domestic abuse; drug or alcohol misuse; and lack of engagement with services. Pointers to improve practice include: giving better consideration of the impact of mental health issues on parenting capacity; the need for children's services and adult services to work together and think of the whole family; listening to parents; having the confidence to question and challenge; and ensuring assessment is a shared task between children's social workers and adult mental health. (Edited publisher abstract)
Comorbidities of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: pregnancy risk factors and parent mental health
- Authors:
- SILVA Desiree, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 51(6), 2015, pp.738-745.
- Publisher:
- Springer
The study examined the risk of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption in pregnancy associated with child comorbidity in a community sample of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The authors used a cross sectional community retrospective questionnaire of 321 children diagnosed with ADHD. The results suggest that maternal smoking increased the risk of oppositional defiant behaviour (ODB) in children with ADHD twofold. Maternal alcohol consumption increased the risk although not significantly for ADHD child comorbid ODB, anxiety disorder and depression. Parent mental health significantly impacted on child comorbidity. The study suggests that smoking in pregnancy is associated with comorbid ODB, independent of parent mental health, family history of ADHD and socioeconomic factors. Parent mental health is independently associated with comorbid ODB, anxiety disorder and depression. (Edited publisher abstract)
Child protection and cross-sector practice: an analysis of child death reviews to inform practice when multiple parental risk factors are present
- Authors:
- FREDERICO Margarita, JACKSON Annette, DWYER Jenny
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse Review, 23(2), 2014, pp.104-115.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This paper draws upon the findings of an analysis of 16 child death reviews of children known to child protection services in Victoria, Australia. The purpose of the research was to assist in understanding the impact on children of the coexistence of the parental risk factors of mental health problems, family violence and substance abuse. The common coexistence of the three risk factors was identified by the Victorian Child Death Review Committee in its analysis of child death reviews conducted by the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner. The researchers analysed a group of review reports and interviewed and surveyed practitioners in a range of fields. Lessons from filicide research have been integrated into the findings identifying lessons for policy and practice, and the importance of multi-service collaboration. A framework for understanding different elements of sharing knowledge is presented. Key Practitioner Messages:Research on filicide and child death reviews can contribute to understanding risk to children and informing practice; The need to pay increased attention when parental substance abuse, mental health problems and family violence coexist; A gender analysis contributes to understanding families and informing systems responses; A multi-service collaborative framework can support sharing of knowledge when parental risk factors coexist. (Edited publisher abstract)