Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study
BackgroundMany adults with mental illness have dependent children; these parents must navigate decisions about whether and what to tell their children about the illness. Parents are often influenced by shame and guilt about their disorder, and a desire to protect their children from distress. Commun...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1504130/full |
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| author | Elizabeth Rapa Athif Ilyas Athif Ilyas Simone de Cassan Simone de Cassan Louise J. Dalton |
| author_facet | Elizabeth Rapa Athif Ilyas Athif Ilyas Simone de Cassan Simone de Cassan Louise J. Dalton |
| author_sort | Elizabeth Rapa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundMany adults with mental illness have dependent children; these parents must navigate decisions about whether and what to tell their children about the illness. Parents are often influenced by shame and guilt about their disorder, and a desire to protect their children from distress. Communication about parental mental illness can have important benefits for children’s psychological outcomes; professionals could be central in facilitating these conversations. This study explored parents’ experiences of talking to children about their mental illness and the role of their clinical team in this process.MethodsFifteen parents with a mental illness under NHS care in England participated in qualitative interviews. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an inductive coding approach following the principles of thematic analysis.ResultsThematic analysis identified 4 themes: 1. Factors that affect what children are told about parental mental illness, 2. Perceived benefits of talking to children about parental mental illness, 3. Experience of ‘who’ talks to children about parental mental illness, 4. Role of healthcare professionals in supporting families to talk about parental mental illness. There was wide variation in what information was shared with children, influenced by fears about how to share particular diagnoses and the impact of the information on parents themselves and their family. Participants reported that no professionals had asked them what their children knew about their mental illness or offered advice on how to have these conversations, but all would have welcomed this guidance.ConclusionImproving communication about parental mental illness requires targeted training programs for professionals and age-appropriate resources for families. This study emphasizes the critical role of fostering effective communication about parental mental illness to enhance children’s mental health and strengthen family functioning. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7020d610038b451c9ff6edf7e0bf04d2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-7020d610038b451c9ff6edf7e0bf04d22025-01-22T17:51:59ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-01-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.15041301504130Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative studyElizabeth Rapa0Athif Ilyas1Athif Ilyas2Simone de Cassan3Simone de Cassan4Louise J. Dalton5Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomOxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomOxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomBackgroundMany adults with mental illness have dependent children; these parents must navigate decisions about whether and what to tell their children about the illness. Parents are often influenced by shame and guilt about their disorder, and a desire to protect their children from distress. Communication about parental mental illness can have important benefits for children’s psychological outcomes; professionals could be central in facilitating these conversations. This study explored parents’ experiences of talking to children about their mental illness and the role of their clinical team in this process.MethodsFifteen parents with a mental illness under NHS care in England participated in qualitative interviews. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an inductive coding approach following the principles of thematic analysis.ResultsThematic analysis identified 4 themes: 1. Factors that affect what children are told about parental mental illness, 2. Perceived benefits of talking to children about parental mental illness, 3. Experience of ‘who’ talks to children about parental mental illness, 4. Role of healthcare professionals in supporting families to talk about parental mental illness. There was wide variation in what information was shared with children, influenced by fears about how to share particular diagnoses and the impact of the information on parents themselves and their family. Participants reported that no professionals had asked them what their children knew about their mental illness or offered advice on how to have these conversations, but all would have welcomed this guidance.ConclusionImproving communication about parental mental illness requires targeted training programs for professionals and age-appropriate resources for families. This study emphasizes the critical role of fostering effective communication about parental mental illness to enhance children’s mental health and strengthen family functioning.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1504130/fullmental illnessparentschildrenfamiliescommunicationhealthcare professionals |
| spellingShingle | Elizabeth Rapa Athif Ilyas Athif Ilyas Simone de Cassan Simone de Cassan Louise J. Dalton Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study Frontiers in Psychology mental illness parents children families communication healthcare professionals |
| title | Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study |
| title_full | Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study |
| title_short | Experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children: a qualitative study |
| title_sort | experiences of patients talking about mental illness with their children a qualitative study |
| topic | mental illness parents children families communication healthcare professionals |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1504130/full |
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