Parental mental illness can be linked to reduced family functioning, which is associated with more conflicts, less adaptability and cohesion as well as a disorganized pattern of everyday planning. Concurrently, family functioning is an important moderator for the influence of parental mental disorders on the development of the children. Consequently, the current study addresses the correlation of family functioning in families with mentally ill parents and the psychological health of the children. The sample consists of 67 mentally ill parents. Both parents and therapists completed questionnaires related to family functioning and the psychological health of the children. Family functioning was rated as dysfunctional in 38% of the families. The psychological health of the children was classified as clinical or subclinical in 43% of the cases. 52% of the children were rated to have no psychological problems. In families with good family functioning, children were assessed to have less psychological problems than in families with poor functioning. Children outside the clinical range lived in families with good family functioning and vice versa. Significant positive correlations were found between the FB-A scales, the CBCL/4-18 syndrome scales and the CBCL/4–18 total score. Results indicate that family functioning and psychological health of children in families with mentally ill parents correlate closely and represent potential targets for future family interventions.

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.

Offspring of mentally ill parents is at heightened risk for psychological symptoms. The identification of environmental factors that predict their mental health is crucial for the development of preventive and therapeutic measures. In the current study, we addressed the combined role of family functioning and social support by taking mentally ill patients’, their partners’, and children’s perspectives into account. The cross-sectional sample included n=195 families (195 patients, 127 partners, and 295 children). Family members completed questionnaires related to family functioning, social support as well as parental and child psychopathology. We conducted multilevel analyses to investigate the associations with internalizing and externalizing problems in children. Family functioning and social support were significantly associated with child internalizing and externalizing problems. However, results varied depending on the rating perspective. We found significant interaction effects of family functioning and social support on child psychopathology. The findings point to the importance of family functioning and social support as potential targets for interventions. Findings should be replicated in future longitudinal studies.