Darryl Maybery

Families Affected by Parental Mental Illness: A Multiperspective Account of Issues and Interventions

A multiperspective account of the issues and subsequent interventions for families affected by parental mental illness is reviewed in this article, including those involving the children, the parent with mental illness, other family members, agencies, and society in general. An overview of various issues and interventions for families affected by parental mental illness is seen as potentially useful for practitioners and program developers as well as providing a resource bank for systematic evaluation, research, and policy.

Children of a parent with a mental illness: perspectives on need

Abstract Being a child of a parent who has a mental illness involves considerable risk to the child’s secure attachment and long-term mental health. Parental mental health concerns place children at a significantly greater risk of lower social, psychological and physical health than children in families not affected by mental illness. In this paper, previous research is extended by examining the needs of these children from the perspectives of children, parents and mental health and welfare professionals. The study involved qualitative and quantitative data collection from focus groups with children and parents, and a comparison of quantitative findings with mental health professionals. Similar responses from the children and parents included problems with major episodes (e.g. parent hospitalisation), issues regarding coping and the importance of sibling support. Parents also identified a number of different issues (e.g. external support) compared with children (e.g. the importance of friendships). A final component of the research undertook a quantitative comparison of seven core ‘things that might help’ children in the circumstance of their parent being hospitalised. The findings showed differences between parents and mental professionals but most significantly with children. The findings overall are discussed in relation to the needs of children whose parent has a mental illness and recommendations are made regarding policy and service provision.

The Negative Event Scale: Measuring frequency and intensity of adult hassles

Abstract This study examined the structure, concurrent validity, and reliability of a hassle measure for middle-aged adults in both event frequency and intensity recordings. The measure included a range of interpersonal day-to-day events and re-examined aspects of the primary appraisal confounding debate between Lazarus and colleagues (Lazarus, Delongis, Folkman, & Gruen, 1985) and Dohrenwend and Shrout (1985). Of the 373 participants, 73% were female, 72% were in paid work, 69% were in permanent relationships and 62% had children. Principal component analyses of separate hassle frequency and intensity scores highlighted components consistent with previous research. There were seven interpersonal and four non-interpersonal subscales associated with negative events with family and friends, work, health, money, and household. The subscales had very good reliability and concurrent validity and there were generally strong correlations (i.e. up .84) between frequency and intensity scores for each subscale. Given some important sampling limitations (e.g. female overrepresentation) the findings show a psychometrically sound hassle scale for adults.

Care Plans for Families Affected by Parental Mental Illness

The process of establishing care plans for families affected by parental mental illness is outlined in this article. Based on the feedback of families involved, the original objective of developing crisis plans was broadened to incorporate “care” components. Accordingly, family care plans included planning for possible future crises, such as a parents hospitalization, as well as long-term goals, for example, education plans for the children. It was found that identifying both crisis and care components enhanced existing social supports within the family and involved pre-negotiating and coordinating agency supports for family members. The general principles and basic components of family care plans are outlined, and the implications for workers roles conclude the article.

Lessons Learnt: Enhancing Workforce Capacity to Respond to the Needs of Families Affected by Parental Mental Illness (FAPMI)

While there is substantial research underpinning familyfocused practice, embedding family-focused interventions into the workplace can be difficult. VicChamps was a threeyear funded project which aimed to enhance workers’ awareness of and responsiveness to the needs of families affected by parental mental illness (FAPMI). Process interviews with the project facilitators over three years highlight the strategies that were successful as well as the problems encountered in implementing this project. Successful strategies included identification of ‘organizational champions’, building relationships with other agencies, involving consumers in training, tailoring training to specific organizational needs, with ongoing, specialist support and, finally, providing examples of treatment protocols. Issues in program implementation included developing specialized services, philosophical issues regarding working with families and defining workers’ responsibilities to their clients’ families. Concerns regarding systemic sustainability and recommendations for other projects targeting workforce change conclude this paper.