Skip to main content

Parents with Psychiatric Conditions

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Book cover Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents

Part of the book series: Mental Health and Illness Worldwide ((MHIW))

  • 251 Accesses

Abstract

Parental psychiatric disorders, which are not uncommon, affect various aspects of family functions and child development. The heightened risk for development of psychopathology in offspring is associated with the effects of inherited genetic susceptibility and environmental influences. Parental psychopathology could limit their ability of synchrony, responsivity, and affect expression so that it is difficult for them to provide an optimal support for their offspring’s emotional and physiological development.

Some children experience disturbances of their psychological function in response to parental psychiatric disorder, while other children of mentally ill parents show resilience against parental psychopathology or negative outcomes of their own. From a viewpoint of developmental psychopathology, child psychopathology may emerge as a result of complex and dynamic interactions between risk and resilience factors associating with emotional, behavioral, and social outcomes.

The aim of this chapter focuses on the impact of parental psychiatric disorders including mood disorders, alcohol and substance misuse, and psychotic disorders on child psychopathology. Mechanism of intergenerational transmission, risk factors for developing psychopathology, neurobiological processes, and importance of interventions are also discussed. Illuminating the influence of parental psychiatric disorders and interventions targeting both parental psychiatric conditions and parent-child interactions are important for mitigating the risk of intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aktar E, Qu J, Lawrence PJ, Tollenaar MS, Elzinga BM, Bogels SM (2019) Fetal and infant outcomes in the offspring of parents with perinatal mental disorders: earliest influences. Front Psych 10:391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birmaher B, Axelson D, Monk K, Kalas C, Goldstein B, Hickey MB, Obreja M, Ehmann M, Iyengar S, Shamseddeen W et al (2009) Lifetime psychiatric disorders in school-aged offspring of parents with bipolar disorder: the Pittsburgh Bipolar Offspring study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 66:287–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brent BK, Holt DJ, Keshavan MS, Seidman LJ, Fonagy P (2014) Mentalization-based treatment for psychosis: linking an attachment-based model to the psychotherapy for impaired mental state understanding in people with psychotic disorders. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci 51:17–24

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brent DA, Brunwasser SM, Hollon SD, Weersing VR, Clarke GN, Dickerson JF, Beardslee WR, Gladstone TR, Porta G, Lynch FL et al (2015) Effect of a cognitive-behavioral prevention program on depression 6 years after implementation among at-risk adolescents: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiat 72:1110–1118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun S, Conner E, Miller M, Messina N (2015) Improving the outcomes of children affected by parental substance abuse: a review of randomized controlled trials. Subst Abus Rehabil 6:15–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen YY, Weitzman ER (2005) Depressive symptoms, DSM-IV alcohol abuse and their comorbidity among children of problem drinkers in a national survey: effects of parent and child gender and parent recovery status. J Stud Alcohol 66:66–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy A, Horrocks J, Doucette S, Keown-Stoneman C, McCloskey S, Grof P (2014) The developmental trajectory of bipolar disorder. Br J Psychiatry 204:122–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher J, Cabral de Mello M, Patel V, Rahman A, Tran T, Holton S, Holmes W (2012) Prevalence and determinants of common perinatal mental disorders in women in low- and lower-middle-income countries: a systematic review. Bull World Health Organ 90:139G–149G

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fonagy P, Sleed M, Baradon T (2016) Randomized controlled trial of parent-infant psychotherapy for parents with mental health problems and young infants. Infant Ment Health J 37:97–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garber J, Cole DA (2010) Intergenerational transmission of depression: a launch and grow model of change across adolescence. Dev Psychopathol 22:819–830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glover V (2011) Annual research review: prenatal stress and the origins of psychopathology: an evolutionary perspective. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 52:356–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman PD, Hanson MA, Cooper C, Thornburg KL (2008) Effect of in utero and early-life conditions on adult health and disease. N Engl J Med 359:61–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman SH, Rouse MH, Connell AM, Broth MR, Hall CM, Heyward D (2011) Maternal depression and child psychopathology: a meta-analytic review. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 14:1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graziano P, Derefinko K (2013) Cardiac vagal control and children’s adaptive functioning: a meta-analysis. Biol Psychol 94:22–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutierrez-Galve L, Stein A, Hanington L, Heron J, Lewis G, O’Farrelly C, Ramchandani PG (2019) Association of maternal and paternal depression in the postnatal period with offspring depression at age 18 years. JAMA Psychiat 76:290–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hameed MA, Lewis AJ (2016) Offspring of parents with schizophrenia: a systematic review of developmental features across childhood. Harv Rev Psychiatry 24:104–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogan DM (1998) Annotation: the psychological development and welfare of children of opiate and cocaine users: review and research needs. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 39:609–620

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Letourneau NL, Dennis CL, Cosic N, Linder J (2017) The effect of perinatal depression treatment for mothers on parenting and child development: a systematic review. Depress Anxiety 34:928–966

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis G, Neary M, Polek E, Flouri E, Lewis G (2017) The association between paternal and adolescent depressive symptoms: evidence from two population-based cohorts. Lancet Psychiatry 4:920–926

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu CH, Keshavan MS, Tronick E, Seidman LJ (2015) Perinatal risks and childhood premorbid indicators of later psychosis: next steps for early psychosocial interventions. Schizophr Bull 41:801–816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loechner J, Starman K, Galuschka K, Tamm J, Schulte-Korne G, Rubel J, Platt B (2018) Preventing depression in the offspring of parents with depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clin Psychol Rev 60:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loukas A, Fitzgerald HE, Zucker RA, von Eye A (2001) Parental alcoholism and co-occurring antisocial behavior: prospective relationships to externalizing behavior problems in their young sons. J Abnorm Child Psychol 29:91–106

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lupien SJ, Parent S, Evans AC, Tremblay RE, Zelazo PD, Corbo V, Pruessner JC, Seguin JR (2011) Larger amygdala but no change in hippocampal volume in 10-year-old children exposed to maternal depressive symptomatology since birth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108:14324–14329

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • May PA, Baete A, Russo J, Elliott AJ, Blankenship J, Kalberg WO, Buckley D, Brooks M, Hasken J, Abdul-Rahman O et al (2014) Prevalence and characteristics of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Pediatrics 134:855–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray L, Creswell C, Cooper PJ (2009) The development of anxiety disorders in childhood: an integrative review. Psychol Med 39:1413–1423

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Netsi E, Pearson RM, Murray L, Cooper P, Craske MG, Stein A (2018) Association of persistent and severe postnatal depression with child outcomes. JAMA Psychiat 75:247–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prenoveau JM, Craske MG, West V, Giannakakis A, Zioga M, Lehtonen A, Davies B, Netsi E, Cardy J, Cooper P et al (2017) Maternal postnatal depression and anxiety and their association with child emotional negativity and behavior problems at two years. Dev Psychol 53:50–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramchandani P, Psychogiou L (2009) Paternal psychiatric disorders and children’s psychosocial development. Lancet 374:646–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramchandani P, Stein A, Evans J, O’Connor TG, ALSPAC Study Team (2005) Paternal depression in the postnatal period and child development: a prospective population study. Lancet 365:2201–2205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scorza P, Duarte CS, Hipwell AE, Posner J, Ortin A, Canino G, Monk C, Program Collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health, O (2019) Research review: intergenerational transmission of disadvantage: epigenetics and parents’ childhoods as the first exposure. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 60:119–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spence SH, Najman JM, Bor W, O’Callaghan MJ, Williams GM (2002) Maternal anxiety and depression, poverty and marital relationship factors during early childhood as predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 43:457–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein A, Harold G (2015) Impact of parental psychiatric disorder and physical illness. In: Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry, 6th edn, pp 352–363, Wiley-Blackwell, United States

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins ER (2008) Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought. Psychol Bull 134:163–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weissman MM, Pilowsky DJ, Wickramaratne PJ, Talati A, Wisniewski SR, Fava M, Hughes CW, Garber J, Malloy E, King CA et al (2006) Remissions in maternal depression and child psychopathology: a STAR∗D-child report. JAMA 295:1389–1398

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wlodarczyk O, Schwarze M, Rumpf HJ, Metzner F, Pawils S (2017) Protective mental health factors in children of parents with alcohol and drug use disorders: a systematic review. PLoS One 12:e0179140

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenichi Yamane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Yamane, K., Yamashita, H., Katsuki, D., Yoshida, K. (2020). Parents with Psychiatric Conditions. In: Taylor, E., Verhulst, F., Wong, J., Yoshida, K., Nikapota, A. (eds) Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_24-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_24-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics