Parents with a mental illness and their sense of parenting competence

Figures & data

Table 1. Factor structure from two studies with normative comparison groups.

	Satisfaction		Efficacy		Interest		Total
Item	J&M^1	G&C^2	J&M^1	G&C^2	J&M^1	G&C^2	J&M^1	G&C^2
1			√				√
2	√	√					√	√
3	√	√					√	√
4	√	√					√	√
5	√						√
6			√	√			√	√
7			√				√
8	√	√					√	√
9	√	√					√	√
10			√	√			√	√
11			√	√			√	√
12	√					√	√	√
13			√	√			√	√
14	√					√	√	√
15			√	√			√	√
16	√	√					√	√
17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Number of items included	9	6	7	5	-	3 (2 *)	16	14(13 *)

* Item 17 was not included in our questionnaire. Hence for our sample the Interest score by G&C’s factor structure is divided by 2 items, instead of 3, and total PSOC scores by G&C’s factor structure is divided by 13 items, instead of 14.

¹ J&M is an abbreviation for Johnston & Mash’s factor structure, ²G&C is an abbreviation for Gilmore & Cuskelly’s factor structure.

Table 2. Descriptive data for variables included in the statistical analysis.

		Descriptive data for continuous variables						Descriptive data for categorical variables
	n	Range	SD	Mean	Median	25th percentile	75th percentile	Frequency of event	Percentage of event
PSOC Satisfaction ^a, b	141	1.93-6.00	0.87	4.41	4.48	3.78	5.04	-	-
PSOC Efficacy ^a, b	141	1.54-6.00	0.89	4.61	4.75	4.04	5.29	-	-
Child age ^c	141	1–28	5.30	9.52	10.00	5.00	13.50	-	-
Comorbidity ^c	141	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	25	17.73
Substance use disorders ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	22	15.83
Schizophrenia^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	11	7.91
Depression ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	76	54.68
Anxiety disorders ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	40	28.78
Eating disorders ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	3	2.16
Disorders of adult personality ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	10	7.19
Behavioural and emotional disorders with early onset ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	5	3.60
z-diagnoses ^c	139	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	3	2.16
Child Talks participation ^d	141	0–1	-	-	-	-	-	32	22.70

^a Predictor variable for logistic regression and outcome variable in multiple regression analysis, ^b Predictor variable in logistic regression analysis, ^c Predictor variable in multiple regression analysis,^d Outcome variable in logistic regression analysis.

Table 3. Means (standard deviations) for PSOC total scores for mothers and fathers. Results from comparing the means and the effect size.

	PSOC total Johnston & Mash		PSOC total Gilmore & Cuskelly
	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers
Parents with a mental illness ^1	4.55 (0.78), n = 95	4.38 (0.79), n = 46	4.46 (0.83), n = 95	4.33 (0.82), n = 46
Normative data ^1	3.96 (0.62), n = 297	4.07 (0.56), n = 215	4.35 (0.64), n = 586	4.33 (0.66), n = 615
t-test	t (390) = 7.56, p < .005*	t (259) = 3.15, p < .005*	t (390) = 1.35, p = .18	t (259) = .00, p = 1.00
Cohen’s d	−0.84	−0.45	−0.15	.00

¹ Scores are divided by the number of items in the scale for comparability reasons. Significant results are marked with a *.

Table 4. Means and standard deviations for PSOC subscales scores for mothers and fathers, and results from comparing the means and the effect sizes.

	Satisfaction J&M		Efficacy J&M		Satisfaction G&C		Efficacy G&C		Interest G&C
	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers	Mothers	Fathers
Parents with a mental illness^1	4.49 (0.84) n = 95	4.23 (0.93) n = 46	4.62 (0.96) n = 95	4.57 (0.77) n = 46	4.06 (1.04) n = 95	3.98 (0.99) n = 46	4.52 (1.11) n = 95	4.44 (0.91) n = 46	5.50 (0.70) n = 95	5.11 (1.03) n = 46
Normative data^1	4.23 (0.69) n = 297	4.41 (0.64) n = 215	3.60 (0.84) n = 297	3.63 (0.78) n = 215	3.78 (0.97) n = 586	4.00 (0.97) n = 615	4.41 (0.81) n = 586	4.19 (0.86) n = 615	5.39 (0.73) n = 586	5.26 (0.73) n = 615
t-test	t (390) =  3.03 p < .005*	t (259) =  −1.58 p = .11	t (390)  =  9.94 p < .005*	t (259)  =  7.43 p < .005*	t (390)  =  2.41 p = .02*	t (259)  =  −0.13 p = .90	t (390)  =  1.05 p = .30	t (259)  =  1.77 p = .08	t (390)  =  1.29 p = .20	t (259)  =  −1.17 p = .24
Cohen’s D	−0.34	0.23	−1.13	−1.21	−0.28	0.02	−0.11	−0.28	−0.15	0.17

¹ Scores are calculated by dividing the sum by number of items included in the scale. Significant results are marked with a *.

Figure 1. Illustration of the suggested causal relationships between parental mental illness and parenting sense of competence (PSOC). Note: The variables ‘Parenting competence' and ‘Child behavioural problems' are not measured in this study, but associations are described by previous research.

Data availability statement

Data can be made available on request to the corresponding author.