How to Support Parents of Infants and Young Children in Mental Health Care: A Narrative Review

The Integrated Family Approach in Mental Health Care Services: A Study of Risk Factors

BACKGROUND

Parental mental disorders in families are frequently accompanied with other problems. These include family life, the development of children, and the social and economic environment. Mental health services often focus treatments on the individual being referred, with little attention to parenting, the family, child development, and environmental factors. This is despite the fact that there is substantial evidence to suggest that the children of these parents are at increased risk of developing a mental disorder throughout the course of their lives. Young children are particularly vulnerable to environmental influences given the level of dependency in this stage of development.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this study was to identify whether there were a complexity of problems and risks in a clinical sample of patients and their young children (0-6) in mental health care, and, if so, whether this complexity was reflected in the integrated treatment given.

METHODS

The data were collected for 26 risk factors, based on the literature, and then subdivided into the parental, child, family, and environmental domains. The data were obtained from the electronic case files of 100 patients at an adult mental health service and the corresponding 100 electronic case files of their infants at a child mental health service.

RESULTS

The findings evidenced a notable accumulation of risk factors within families, with a mean number of 8.43 (SD 3.2) risk factors. Almost all of the families had at least four risk factors, more than half of them had between six and ten risk factors, and a quarter of them had between eleven and sixteen risk factors. Furthermore, two-thirds of the families had at least one risk factor in each of the four domains. More than half of the families received support from at least two organizations in addition to the involvement of adult and child mental health services, which is also an indication of the presence of cumulative problems.

CONCLUSION

This study of a clinical sample shows clearly that the mental disorder among most of the patients, who were all parents of young children, was only one of the problems they had to deal with. The cumulation of risk factors-especially in the family domain-increased the risk of the intergenerational transmission of mental disorders. To prevent these parents and their young children being caught up in this intergenerational cycle, a broad assessment is needed. In addition, malleable risk factors should be addressed in treatment and in close collaboration with other services.

An integrated family approach in the practice of adult and child mental health care

This paper describes the practice of an integrated family approach to treatment in mental health care in which the focus is on the whole family and treatment is carried out by professionals of adult and child mental health services together. It is presented as an example of a best practice in finding a way to overcome barriers in implementing an integrated family approach in treatment for the benefit of families with a variety of interrelated problems. Even though there is a lot of knowledge about the importance of a family approach in mental health care with specific attention to the patients' parental role, the children, family relationships, and the social economic context, this is worldwide rarely implemented in the practice of mental health care. Barriers to keep the whole family in mind are identified on different levels: organizational policy, interagency collaboration, professionals, and patients themselves. As a solution, a model of an integrated family approach in mental health care is presented: how it is defined; which domains in the family are targeted; which key elements it contains; what the treatment consists of; and which procedures are followed in practice. A case illustrates how this approach might work in practice.

Parenthood and psychological distress among English Millennials during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the Next Steps cohort study

PURPOSE

The COVID-19 pandemic led to disproportionate mental health responses in younger adults and parents. The aim of the study was to investigate how Millennial parents' experiences were associated with psychological distress over the first year of the pandemic.

METHODS

We examined data in September 2020 (n men = 994; n women = 1824) and February 2021 (n men = 1054; n women = 1845) from the Next Steps cohort study (started ages 13-14 in 2003-04). In each wave, we examined differences in GHQ-12 scores between parent groups defined by the age and number of children, adjusting for background characteristics at ages 13-14, psychological distress at ages 25-26, and other circumstances during the pandemic. We also examined if differences varied by work status, financial situation before the outbreak and relationship status.

RESULTS

Whereas mothers with one or two children and children aged 0-2 reported less distress than non-mothers in September 2020, there were no such differences in February 2021. Fathers with three or more children reported more distress in February 2021. Compared with non-fathers who worked, fathers were also disproportionally distressed if they were working with one child or with children aged 2 or less in September 2020.

CONCLUSION

The distribution of psychological distress among Millennial parents and non-parents has varied by age, sex, parenting stage, work status and the timing of the pandemic. Generous family policies are needed, with special attention dedicated to parents combining work and family responsibilities.

The Patient's Voice as a Parent in Mental Health Care: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVE

This study is an evaluation of patients in mental health care who have undertaken treatment with an integrated family approach. The treatment focuses on the mental disorders of patients, their role as parents, the development of their young children, and family relationships. The treatment was conducted by professionals from an adult and a child mental health service in the Netherlands. The aim of the study was to identify the key elements and processes of this approach in order to develop a theoretical model.

BACKGROUND

Parental mental disorders have an impact on parenting and child development. To stop detrimental cascade effects and prevent parents and children from being caught up in the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology, a family approach in mental health care is needed.

METHODS

A qualitative design was adopted using thematic analysis. Data were collected through 18 interviews with patients. The themes in the interviews were which outcomes the patients experienced and which key elements of the treatment contributed to these outcomes.

RESULTS

In general, patients were satisfied with the treatment offered. Improved outcomes were within the domain of the family, the parent-child relationship, individual symptoms, and the functioning of the parent and the child. Patients mentioned six key elements of success in treatment: focus on the whole family, flexible treatment tailored to the situation of the family, components of the whole treatment reinforcing each other, multi-disciplinary consultation among involved professionals, a liaison between adult and child mental health services, and attention to the social and economic environment.

CONCLUSIONS

According to the majority of patients, treatment with an integrated family approach in mental health care is of value for themselves, their children, and family relationships, especially the parent-child relationship.

Integrated Family Approach in Mental Health Care by Professionals From Adult and Child Mental Health Services: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVE

A multiple case-study in which each case was evaluated by adult and child mental health professionals who used an integrated family approach in their treatments. In this approach, treatment focuses on the mental disorders of the parents as well as on the development of the young child and family relationships. This study evaluated the experiences of professionals from adult and child mental health services using this approach. The aim of the study is identifying key elements of this approach, processes involved in treatment, and barriers to its success, with the aim of contributing to the development of practice based integrated mental health care for the whole family.

BACKGROUND

Parental mental disorders have an impact on parenting and child development. To stop detrimental cascade effects and prevent parent and child from being caught up in the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology, an integrated family approach in mental health care is needed. Methods: A qualitative case study design using a grounded theory approach. Data were collected through 19 group interviews of professionals (N = 37) from adult and infant mental health teams who worked together in the treatment of a family.

RESULTS

Professionals from the two services were comfortable coping with complexity and felt supported to perform their treatments by staying in touch with each other in multi-disciplinary consultations. They indicated that by attuning the treatment components to each other and tailoring them to the capabilities of the family, their treatments had more impact. A flexible attitude of all involved professionals and commitment to the interest of all family members was essential.

CONCLUSION

According to professionals, treatment with an integrated family approach in mental health care is of value for families by addressing the distinct roles, positions and relationships, by implementing a flexible complementary treatment plan, and by empowering professionals by multi-disciplinary consultations.