Children of mentally ill or addicted parents participating in preventive support groups

Abstract

The large number of children with mentally ill or addicted parents calls for efficient provision of preventive support: interventions should be offered to children most at risk and attune to their risk levels and needs. This study provided insight in the (heterogeneous) needs of children participating in preventive support groups. Questionnaires were filled out by 170 children (8–12 years) and their ill parent on children's psychosocial problems, parental illness-related cognitions and various risk factors. Outcomes show that 55.7% of the children had clinical psychosocial problems, 13.3% had subclinical problems and 31% functioned relatively well. Eighty-three percent experienced multiple risk factors. A linear cumulative relation was found between the number of risk factors and intensity of child problems. Children were classified into four risk profiles according to their own functioning and family risk level. The heterogeneity in the support group participants might call for interventions of different intensity and content.

Keywords::

• school-age children
• mentally ill or addicted parents
• risk level
• prevention
• support groups

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a grant 62300034 from ZonMw (the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development)

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.