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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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  1. Sarah E. Johnson
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Correspondence to Sarah E. Johnson.

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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.

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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

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