Families with Mentally Ill Parents and Their Partners: Overlaps in Psychiatric Symptoms and Symptom Coping

Silke Wiegand-Grefe (), Hannah Warkentin, Bonnie Adema, Anne Daubmann, Reinhold Kilian, Sibylle M. Winter, Martin Lambert, Karl Wegscheider and Mareike Busmann ()
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Silke Wiegand-Grefe: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Hannah Warkentin: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Bonnie Adema: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
Anne Daubmann: Institute for Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Reinhold Kilian: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy II, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Sibylle M. Winter: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Charité University Medicine Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Martin Lambert: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Karl Wegscheider: Institute for Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Mareike Busmann: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: Partners in families with a mentally ill parent often experience psychiatric symptoms themselves. Recent studies indicate that there might be overlaps in disorder-specific symptom areas between partners and spouses. This study aimed at examining associations in psychiatric symptoms and symptom coping in partners in families with a mentally ill parent, e.g., having a psychiatric diagnosis according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Furthermore, a moderation of the psychiatric symptoms of the parent with a mental illness on the association in symptom coping was assumed. Families with at least one parent with a mental illness were recruited into the longitudinal “Children of Mentally Ill Parents” (CHIMPS) trial at seven clinical centers in Germany and Switzerland. In total, 139 families were included in the current study. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), Clinical Global Impression scale (CGI), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), while symptom coping strategies were measured using the Freiburger Fragebogen zur Krankheitsverarbeitung (FKV). Regression analyses have indicated an association in psychiatric symptoms between mentally ill parents and their partners concerning psychosocial functioning, somatic, and stress-related symptoms. Additionally, one symptom coping strategy of the partners was predicted by the same strategy of the parent with a mental illness. The results emphasize the importance of screening and providing support to parents burdened by the mental disorder of their partners, especially regarding the children in these partnerships.

Keywords: families; mentally ill parents; mental illness; relationship; psychiatric symptoms; symptom coping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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