Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of Mental Disorders Among Children and Adolescents of Parents with Self-Reported Mental Health Problems

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Community Mental Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper provides Australian population-level estimates of the prevalence of parental self-reported lifetime mental disorders and past 12 month mental disorders in their children. It leverages unique data from the 2013–2014 Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (Young Minds Matter) (n = 6310). Mental disorders were assessed in 4–17 year-olds using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV. Primary carer (PC) and secondary carer mental health was based on PC-reported lifetime diagnoses. Over one-third of 4–17 year-olds had a PC with a lifetime diagnosis. The prevalence of all disorders was significantly higher amongst these children than children whose PC reported no diagnoses, and highest when the PC had comorbid and more severe disorders. Assessing mental health needs at a family level is important to identify children who are particularly vulnerable to developing mental disorders, to develop targeted interventions, and to understand the intergenerational transmission of risk.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Additional analysis identifying the gender of the PC showed that the prevalence of mental disorders in 4–17 year-olds was approximately twofold when the PC was the (biological, adoptive, step or foster) mother (n = 5193) compared to if the PC was the father (n = 1013). A small number of children had PCs who were grandparents or other family members (n = 104). If the PC was the mother, the prevalence of child mental disorders was 23.5% (95% CIs  21.3–25.7%) and 9.5% (95% CIs  8.4–10.7%) respectively for PCs with any mental health diagnosis and no diagnosis respectively (RR = 2.5). The comparable prevalence figures if the PC was the father were 11.3% (95% CIs  7.0–15.6%) and 4.8% (95% CIs 3.0–6.5%) respectively (RR = 2.4). These differences were observed in both single and two-parent families.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Census of Population and Housing: socio-economic indicators for areas (SEIFA), Australia, 2011. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian Council of Social Services. Poverty in Australia, (2014). Strawberry Hills.

  • Beardslee, W. R., Gladstone, T. R. G., & Wright, E. J. (2003). A family-based approach to the prevention of depressive symptoms in children at risk: Evidence of parental and child change. Pediatrics, 112, E99–E111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beardslee, W. R., Wright, E. J., Gladstone, T. R. G., & Forbes, P. (2007). Long-term effects from a randomized trial of two public health preventive interventions for parental depression. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(4), 703–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The Future of Children. Children and Poverty, 7(2), 55–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, L., Hanlon, M.-C., Poon, A. W. P., Paolini, S., Stone, M., Galletly, C.…Cohen, M. (2012). The experiences of Australian parents with psychosis: The second Australian national survey of psychosis. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 46(9), 890–900.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coates, D., & Howe, D. (2016). An evaluation of a service to keep children safe in families with mental health and/or substance issues. Australasian Psychiatry, 24, 483–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, A. M., & Goodman, S. H. (2002). The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children’s internalizing and externalising behaviour problems: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), 746–773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, K., & Murray, R. M. (2010). Full spectrum of psychiatric outcomes among offspring with parental history of mental disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67, 822–829.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, I. (2016). Poverty and mental health: A review to inform the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Anti-Poverty Strategy. London: Mental Health Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D. M., Lynskey, M. T., & Horwood, L. J. (1993). The effect of maternal depression on maternal ratings of child behaviour. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21(3), 245–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, P. W., Shaffer, D., Paicentini, J. C., Lapkin, J., Kafantaris, V., Leonard, H., & Herzog, D. B. (1993). Sensitivity of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, 2nd edition (DISC-2.1) for specific diagnoses of children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 666–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S., Rouse, H., Connell, M. H., Robbins Broth, A. M., Hall, M. C. M., & Heyward, D. (2010). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 14, 1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gornick, J. C., & Jantti, M. (2012). Child poverty in cross-national perspective: Lessons from the Luxembourg Income Study. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 558–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, K., Compass, A., Thurm, B. E., McMahon, A. E., Gipson, S. D., Campbell, P. Y., J…Westerholm, A. I. R. (2006). Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Evidence of moderating and mediating effects. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 257–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafekost, J., Lawrence, D., de Haan, B., Johnson, K., Saw, S. E., Buckingham, S. W. J., .…, Zubrick, S. R. (2016). Updating the methodology of the Child and Adolescent Component of the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50, 866–875.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hosman, C. M. H., van Doesum, K. T. M., & van Santvoort, F. (2009). Prevention of emotional problems and psychiatric risks in children of parents with a mental illness in the Netherlands: 1. The scientific basis to a comprehensive approach. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of MH, 8(3), 250–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, D. W., Schurer, S., & Shields, M. A. (2013). Exploring the intergenerational persistence of mental health: Evidence from three generations. Journal of Health Economics, 32, 1077–1089.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalil, A., Haskins, R., & Chesters, J. (2012). Investing in Children:Work, education, and social policy in two rich countries. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Amminger, P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Lee, S., & Ustun, T. B. (2007). Age of onset of mental disorders: A review of recent literature. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20(4), 359–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Barker, P. R., Colpe, L. J., Epstein, J. F., Gfroerer, J. C., Hiripi, M. J., …, Zaslavsky, A. M. (2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 184‒189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Sampson, N. A., Berglund, P., Gruber, M. J., Al-Hamzawi, A., Andrade, L., …, Wilcox, M. A. (2015). Anxious and non-anxious major depressive disorder in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 24(3), 210–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kieling, C., Baker-Henningham, H., Belfer, M., Conti, G., Ertem, I., Omigbodun, O., …, Rahman, A. (2011). Child and adolescent mental health. The Lancet, 378, 1515–1525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., Hafekost, J., de Haan, B., Sawyer, K., Ainley, M. J., & Zubrick, S. R. (2015). The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: Report on the Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Canberra: Department of Health

    Google Scholar 

  • Logan, D. E., & King, C. A. (2001). Parental facilitation of adolescent mental health service utilisation: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 8(3), 319–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maybery, D. J., Reupert, A. E., Kent, P., Goodyear, M., & Crase, L. (2009). Prevalence of parental mental illness in Australian families. Psychiatric Bulletin, 33(1), 22–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, K. A., Gadermann, A. M., Hwang, I., Sampson, N. A., Al-Hamzawi, A., & Andrade, L. H.…Kessler, R. C. (2012). Parent psychopathology and offspring mental disorders: Results from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 200, 290–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, V., Waterreus, A., Jablensky, A., Mackinnon, A., McGrath, J. J., Carr, V., …, Saw, S. (2011). People living with psychotic illness 2010. Report on the second Australian national survey. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Najman, J. M., Williams, G. M., Nikles, J., Spence, S., Bor, W., & O’Callaghan M., …. Shuttlewood, G. J. (2001). Bias influencing maternal reports of child behaviour and emotional state. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 36(4), 186–194.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • National Mental Health Commission. (2014). The National review of mental health programmes and services. Sydney: NMHC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, J., Reupert, A., Grant, A., Lees, R., Maybery, D., Mordoch, E., …, Diggins, M. (2015). The policy context and change for families living with parental mental illness. In A. Reupert, D. Maybery, J. Nicholson, M. Gopfert & M. V. Seeman (Eds.), Parental psychiatric disorder: Distressed parents and their families, (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp. 354–364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ordway, M. R. (2011). Depressed mothers as informants on child behaviour: Methodological issues. Research in Nursing and Health, 34(6), 520–532.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pascoe, J. M., Wood, D. L., Duffee, J. H., & Kuo, A. (2016). Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Council on Community Pediatrics. Mediators and adverse effects of child poverty in the United States. Pediatrics, 137(4), e20160340.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perales, F., Johnson, S. E., Baxter, J., Lawrence, D., & Zubrick, S. R. (2017). Family structure and childhood mental disorders: New findings from Australia. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52, 423–433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasic, D., Hajek, T., Alda, M., & Uher, R. (2014). Risk of mental illness in offspring of parents with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder: A meta-analysis of family high-risk studies. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 40(1), 28–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reupert, A. E., Cuff, R., Drost, L., Foster, K., van Doesum, K. T. M., & van Santvoort, F. (2012). Intervention programs for children whose parents have a mental illness: A review. Medical Journal of Australia, 1(Supp1), 18–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reupert, A. E., Maybery, D. J., & Kowalenko, N. M. (2012). Children whose parents have a mental illness: Prevalence, need and treatment. Medical Journal of Australia, 1(Suppl), 7–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ridge, T. (2011). The everyday costs of poverty in childhood: A review of qualitative research exploring the lives and experiences of low-income children in the UK. Children and Society, 25, 73–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer, M. G., Streiner, D. L., & Baghurst, P. (1998). The influence of distress on mothers’ and fathers’ reports of childhood emotional and behavioral problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26(6), 407–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seeman, M. V. (2015). Schizophrenia and motherhood. In A. Reupert, D. Maybery, J. Nicholson, M. Gopfert & M. V. Seeman (Eds.), Parental psychiatric disorder: Distressed parents and their families ((3rd Ed.) (pp). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 107‒116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegenthalar, E., Munder, T., & Egger, M. (2012). Effect of preventive interventions in mentally ill parents on the mental health of the offspring: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(1), 8–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slade, T., Johnston, A., Oakley Browne, M. A., Andrews, G., & Whiteford, H. (2009). 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Methods and key findings. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 43, 594–605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stallard, P., Norman, P., Huline-Dickens, S., Salter, E., & Cribb, J. (2004). The effects of parental mental illness upon children: A descriptive study of the views of parents and children. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9(1), 39–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straussner, S. L. A., & Huff-Fewell, C. (2011). Children of parents who abuse alcohol and other drugs. In A. Reupert, D. Maybery, J. Nicholson, M. Gopfert & M. V. Seeman (Eds.), Parental psychiatric disorder: Distressed parents and their families, (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 138–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suarez, E. B., Lafreniere, G., & Harrison, J. (2016). Scoping review of interventions supporting mothers with mental illness: Key outcomes and challenges. Community Mental Health Journal, 52, 927–936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. (2016). Position Statement 56. Children of parents with mental illness. Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

  • van Santvoort, F., Hosman, C. M. H., Janssens, J. M. A. M., van Doesum, K. T. M., Reupert, A., & van Loon, L. M. A. (2015). The impact of various parental mental disorders on children’s diagnoses: A systematic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 18, 281–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weissman, M. M. (2016). Children of depressed parents—a public health opportunity. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(3), 197–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weissman, M. M., Wickramaratne, P., Nomura, Y., Waner, V., Pilowsky, D., & Verdeli, H. (2006). Offspring of depressed parents: 20 years later. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1001–1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L., & Beardslee, W. R. (2012). The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioural health of children and youth. American Psychologist, 67(4), 272–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zubrick, S. R., Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., & Hafekost, J. (2015). Measuring severity of mental disorders with the Young Minds Matter parent/carer-reported impact items. Technical Report. Perth: Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the 6,310 families who gave their time to participate in the survey, Rajni Walia, Gerry Bardsley, the team at Roy Morgan Research, and the Survey Reference Group for their input into the design and conduct of the survey. The authors would also like to thank Margaret Cook for her dedication to the issue of improving the lives and opportunities of children whose parents have serious mental health problems, and for her input and guidance in producing this paper.

Funding

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (project number CE140100027). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Research Council. This study uses data from Young Minds Matter which was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, WA, 6008, Australia

    Sarah E. Johnson & Stephen R. Zubrick

  2. Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    David Lawrence & Stephen R. Zubrick

  3. ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Long Pocket Precinct, 80 Meiers Rd, Building C, Indooroopilly, Brisbane, QLD, 4068, Australia

    Francisco Perales & Janeen Baxter

Authors
  1. Sarah E. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Lawrence
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Francisco Perales
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Janeen Baxter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen R. Zubrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah E. Johnson.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to report and certify responsibility for the manuscript.

Ethical Approval

The research protocol for Young Minds Matter was approved by two institutional review boards ‒ the Australian Government Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee (Project 17/2012), and The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (Project RA/4/1/5538). All research has been undertaken in accordance with Australia’s National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Johnson, S.E., Lawrence, D., Perales, F. et al. Prevalence of Mental Disorders Among Children and Adolescents of Parents with Self-Reported Mental Health Problems. Community Ment Health J 54, 884–897 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0217-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0217-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation