Growing up with a parent with schizophrenia: what children say they need

Abstract

Despite the rich literature on the effects of parental mental health problems on child development, the needs of children of mentally ill parents have been overlooked in both research and services. This study investigated the needs of a neglected group, namely Chinese adolescent children of parents with schizophrenia, in order to gain insights into the design of programmes for these adolescents. In-depth interviews were conducted individually with five Chinese adolescent girls whose mother or father was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Analysis of the interview data revealed four common themes: stigma and discrimination; mixed feelings of love and anger; the role of being a carer; and positive gains. The results shed light on the importance of taking cultural context into consideration when providing services for these children and further conducting research in this area. Although mental health problems are regarded as a taboo and associated with shame in Chinese culture, these children, out of a respect for their parents ('filial piety' 1 ), showed a strong sense of loyalty to their parents and suppressed their anger and sorrow for their parents' sake. Implications for social services for children whose parents have mental health problems and suggestions for future research are discussed. Key wordsschizophrenia; mental health problems; parents; stigma; young carer; Chinese culture married, many have divorced or their partners have left them, and their children have become their only family members. These children bear the responsibilities of a carer and at the same time the family stigma associated with mental illness, but are powerless within the family and the social system (Mordoch & Hall, 2002).

Can I Tell Just by Myself? Discussing a Parental Mental Disorder With a Child in a Research Interview

“…Our findings corroborate those of previous studies that have demonstrated the experience of shame and associative stigma of children with parental mental problems (Cogan, Riddel, & Mayes, 2005;Östman, 2008;Fjone et al, 2009;Chan & Ying, 2010). They are also in accordance with the findings of Prior (2012), who analysed how young users of counseling services resist being positioned in a stigmatizing discourse of mental illness, and with those of Fjone et al (2009), who argue that children with parental mental disorders wish to present themselves as normal and equal in their peer group.…”

“…To achieve this end, the most obvious action is to conceal the parental situation (see also Oskouie et al, 2011). Furthermore, research shows that in seeking to guard a family secret, children often isolate themselves psychologically from others (Riebschleger, 2004;Chan & Ying, 2010;Chang & Horrocks, 2006). The present analysis also showed how the interviewer participated in the management of Tanja's associative stigma and in presenting herself as a non-deviant young person.…”

Chinese mothers’ experiences of family life when they have a mental illness: A qualitative systematic review

“…The initial focus of this review was to identify and synthesize the experiences of Chinese parents and children, where a parent has a mental illness. However, of the ten identified papers, only one reported on children’s experiences (Chan & Heidi, 2010) and none reported on fathers’ experiences. Given the paucity of papers in these areas, the thematic synthesis focused on mothers’ experiences.…”

The Lived Experiences of Adolescents Living with a Schizophrenic Mother

“…They were embarrassed to bring their friends home or to introduce their friends to their mother. This result was supported by the research from Chan and Heidi (2010) who declared that adolescent with schizophrenic mother tend to have low self-esteem. The participants in this research who revealed their shame were all female.…”

“…The interesting thing in this research was even though taking care of schizophrenic mother was a heavy burden to them; they still tried to endure and continued to take care of their mother. This result was supported by Chan and Heidi (2010) who revealed that although the adolescents with schizophrenic mother had various bitter experiences in their life, they felt responsible in their parents' treatment. They also wanted to keep giving emotional support to their parents.…”