Violence by Parents Against Their Children: Reporting of Maltreatment Suspicions, Child Protection, and Risk in Mental Illness

Parent-Child Relationship Quality, Childhood Maltreatment, and Psychological Symptoms in Chinese Adolescent

This study aimed to examine the association between childhood maltreatment, parent-child relationship quality with psychological symptoms and to explore the moderating role of parent-child relationship quality in the association between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms among adolescents. It also probed to the role of gender differences in this effect. A representative sample of 14,500 middle school students in China were asked to complete a standard questionnaire on the details of childhood maltreatment, parent-child relationship quality, and psychological symptoms. All data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. The PROCESS program was used to analyze whether parent-child relationship quality moderated the link between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms. The analyses revealed significant correlations between childhood maltreatment, parent-child relationship quality, and psychological symptoms (p < .001). Specifically, paternal relationship quality moderated the association between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms in the total sample (B = -0.01, p < .05) and the subgroup of girls (B = -0.01, p < .05), while maternal relationship quality moderated only the association between childhood maltreatment and psychological symptoms in the subgroup of boys (B = -0.01, p < .05). As the findings indicate, priority should be given to the quality of parent-child relationship and gender-specific methods employed to effectively reduce the psychological symptoms of adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment.

Mapping the literature on parents with mental illness, across psychiatric sub-disciplines: a bibliometric review

BACKGROUND

Research on parental mental illness is often carried out in disorder specific research silos. Drawing on the different research areas, it is possible to leverage and combine existing knowledge, and identify insights that can be transferred across research areas. In this study, we identify the overarching structure of research on parents with psychiatric disorders, and the structure of the different research areas, as defined by psychiatric disorder groups in ICD-10, and identify both topics that are commonly examined, and topics that received attention in only a few of the research areas.

METHODS

We use bibliometric science mapping to examine keywords in 16,734 articles, showing the overarching structure of research on parents with mental illness, both overall and within ICD-10 psychiatric disorder categories. The search was conducted using the Scopus database for journal articles published between 1999 and 2018, with no restrictions on language.

RESULTS

Co-occurrence analysis of the keywords in the 16,734 articles on parental mental illnesses in different psychiatric disorder categories, indicate there are six general themes in the literature: 'expectant mothers and early motherhood', 'substance use and abuse', 'Socio-economic status' (SES) and support practices', 'biomedical research', 'diagnoses, symptoms and treatment', and 'child-parent interaction and context'. Although the same themes are covered in different areas, the contexts, in terms of content and relation to other topics, vary between the research areas. Some topics are heavily researched in some areas, but seem to be neglected in others.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides data both in interactive maps and an extensive table, allowing readers to dive deep into their topic of interest, and examine how this connects to other topics, which may in turn guide identification of important gaps in the literature, and ultimately inspire and generate novel research avenues.

Adult children of parents with mental illness: Dehumanization of a parent - 'She wasn't the wreck in those years that she was to become later'

Children who have lived with parental mental illness experience long-standing reduced health and social outcomes, alongside ongoing personal distress. While there has been some dialogue regarding interventions to support children who are living with parental mental illness, there remains a paucity of knowledge regarding adult children's experiences and potential needs. Given this, the aim of the present study was to establish parenting narratives of adult children who had experienced childhood parental mental illness. This included their experiences of being parented alongside their own subsequent parenting roles. Three men and 10 women, ranging from 30 to 78 years old, met individually with a researcher to tell their stories. Narratives were thematically analysed to establish themes. The findings of the study demonstrated that individuals who have lived with childhood parental mental illness dehumanized their parent with mental illness. The authors argue that all mental health services should be underpinned with a whole of family assessment and care philosophy. There is also a need for all mental health services to consider how policies and procedures might inadvertently dehumanize clients who are parents, which could contribute to familial dehumanization. This could prevent the dehumanization of parents who experience mental illness to preserve parental and child relationships.

Clinical characteristics of maternal mental health service users treated with mood stabilizing or antipsychotic medication

INTRODUCTION

We aimed to investigate the characteristics of pregnant women who required either mood stabilizer or antipsychotic treatment. These women requiring such treatment are likely to be more mentally unwell and thus carry a higher burden of comorbidities associated with poor pregnancy outcomes.

METHODS

This retrospective review investigated the common characteristics of pregnant women who were prescribed with antipsychotics or mood stabilizers under a major city's public maternal mental health service. Demographic data, pregnancy factors and prenatal care, stressors and support, concurrent medical and substance abuse problems, and ongoing maternal mental health issues were recorded.

RESULTS

Most pregnancies were unplanned. Commonly, social stressors, medical problems, and substance use were identified. The most common diagnosis was bipolar disorder.

DISCUSSION

Pregnant women requiring treatment with mood stabilizers or antipsychotics are a complex clinical population, with multiple risk factors for negative pregnancy outcome, before even considering the potential risk from psychotropic agents and mental illness itself. Obtaining reliable data about substance use and medication compliance remains problematic.