Analysis of a Support Group for Children of Parents With Mental Illnesses

Managing Stressful Situations

Bibliographic Data

ID4669510
AuthorsBrenda M Gladstone (University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Brenda Gladstone (0000-0001-7295-6296, University of Toronto), Patricia Mckeever (University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Mary V Seeman (0000-0001-6797-3382, University of Toronto), Mary Seeman (University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Katherine M Boydell (University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Katherine Boydell (0000-0002-1464-8532, University of Toronto)
Year2014
Volume24
Issue9
Pages1171-1182
Publication date2014-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732314528068
PMID24659228
OpenAlexW2117140196
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited50

We report an ethnographic analysis of a psycho-education and peer-support program for school-aged children of parents with mental illnesses. We conducted a critical discourse analysis of the program manual and observed group interactions to understand whether children shared program goals predetermined by adults, and how, or if, the intervention was responsive to their needs. Children were expected to learn mental illness information because "knowledge is power," and to express difficult feelings about being a child of a mentally ill parent that was risky. Participants used humor to manage group expectations, revealing how they made sense of their parents' problems, as well as their own. Suggestions are made for determining good mental health literacy based on children's preferences for explaining circumstances in ways they find relevant, and for supporting children's competencies to manage relationships that are important to them

Developmental psychology · Ethnography · Feeling · Medical education · Mental health · Mental health literacy · Mental illness · Mentally ill · Psychiatry · Applied Psychology · Clinical Psychology · Family and Disability Support Research · Family Support in Illness · Medicine · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Psychology · Social Psychology

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