Christine Grove

When your parent has a mental illness: children's experiences of a psycho-educational intervention

Psycho-education is a key component of interventions for young people who have a parent with a mental illness. When your parent has a mental illness is a psycho-educational booklet designed for young people, developed by the Australian Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) national initiative. The booklet aims to promote young peoples understanding of their parents’ mental illness. This pilot study sought to ascertain possible differences in knowledge of mental illness after the young people viewed the booklet; another aim was to obtain young peoples feedback on how they used the booklet. A mixed methods research design was employed. Nine participants between 12–15 years of age completed the Childrens Knowledge Scale of Mental Illness questionnaire before and after reading the booklet. Five of these participants then took part in follow-up interviews. No significant change was recorded on the Knowledge Scale. In the interviews, young people indicated that the booklet helped them initiate conversations with their parent about the parents illness. Results tentatively indicate the effectiveness of the booklet as a psycho-educational resource for young people whose parent has a mental illness. Implications for practice and future research in this area are discussed.

Successful recruitment strategies for prevention programs targeting children of parents with mental health challenges: An international study

AbSTRACT Research substantiates children of parents with mental disorders including substance abuse face increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Although evidence suggests that support programs for children enhance resiliency, recruiting children to these groups remains problematic. This study identifies successful recruitment strategies for prevention programs for children of parental mental illness. The participants were recruited from an international network of researchers. E-mail invitations requested that researchers forward a web-based questionnaire to five colleagues with recruitment experience. Forty-five individuals from nine countries practicing in mental health responded. Descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis techniques were used. Results: Schools, adult, and youth mental health services were recruitment sources. Nine themes were identified: Relationships, diversified information output, logistics, program consistency, family involvement, recruitment through adults, stigma, recruiting locations, social media. Recruitment barriers were: stigma, inadequate knowledge about parental mental illness and limited time. Transportation to programming was an essential component of successful recruitment.

Mental Health Literacy Content for Children of Parents with a Mental Illness: Thematic Analysis of a Literature Review

Millions of children have a parent with a mental illness (COPMI). These children are at higher risk of acquiring behavioural, developmental and emotional difficulties. Most children, including COPMI, have low levels of mental health literacy (MHL), meaning they do not have accurate, non-stigmatized information. There is limited knowledge about what kind of MHL content should be delivered to children. The aim of this exploratory study is to identify the knowledge content needed for general population children and COPMI to increase their MHL. A second aim is to explore content for emerging children’s MHL scales. Researchers created and analyzed a literature review database. Thematic analysis yielded five main mental health knowledge themes for children: (1) attaining an overview of mental illness and recovery; (2) reducing mental health stigma; (3) building developmental resiliencies; (4) increasing help-seeking capacities; and (5) identifying risk factors for mental illness. COPMI appeared to need the same kind of MHL knowledge content, but with extra family-contextual content such as dealing with stigma experiences, managing stress, and communicating about parental mental illness. There is a need for MHL programs, validated scales, and research on what works for prevention and early intervention with COPMI children.