Family Functioning in Families Affected by Parental Mental Illness: Parent, Child, and Clinician Ratings

Marlit Sell, Anne Daubmann, Holger Zapf, Bonnie Adema, Mareike Busmann, Maja Stiawa, Sibylle M. Winter, Martin Lambert, Karl Wegscheider and Silke Wiegand-Grefe
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Marlit Sell: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Anne Daubmann: Department of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Holger Zapf: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Bonnie Adema: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Mareike Busmann: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Maja Stiawa: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy II, Ulm University, 89312 Günzburg, Germany
Sibylle M. Winter: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Martin Lambert: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Karl Wegscheider: Department of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Silke Wiegand-Grefe: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: Family functioning is often impaired in families with a parent with mental illness and is linked to child mental health. This study aims to gain a better understanding of family functioning in affected families by comparing ratings among family members and by analyzing associations with clinician-rated family functioning. The cross-sectional sample comprised 210 families with ratings of 207 patients, 139 partners, and 100 children. Parents with a mental illness as well as their partners and children completed the German version of the Family Assessment Measure (FAM). Clinician ratings were obtained by the Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale (GARF). We conducted several mixed models to compare ratings of family functioning while accounting for family cluster. Family dysfunction was consistently elevated compared to a normative sample. On several domains, parents with a mental illness perceived family functioning to be worse compared to their partners and children. Partners and children did not differ in their perceptions of family functioning. Ratings of family members were moderately associated with clinician ratings. We discuss the importance of multi-informant assessment of family functioning and the implementation of family-based interventions for families with a parent with mental illness.

Keywords: parental mental illness; family functioning; multiple informants; informant discrepancies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:7985-:d:603280

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