Socially Oriented Approaches To Working with Children of Parents with Severe and Enduring Mental Illness: Expert Perspectives

Journal article

Children Of Parents with severe and enduring Mental Illness (COPMI) face an elevated risk for inherited mental health issues and diminished quality of life across various domains. While social factors such as social networks (the set of active, valued social ties surrounding an individual) are recognised as protective, they are often inadequately conceptualised, preventing effective leverage to promote positive outcomes. This brief report provides information regarding common network related issues faced by families, opportunities for supportive intervention, barriers and facilitators to social network conscious work with COPMI according to professionals. Professionals who work with individuals or families affected by parental mental illness provided insights as to how social network considerations can or do feature in their work via focus group discussions. Focus group transcripts were analysed through an a priori framework developed through framework analysis in order to identify common issues, potential interventions, and barriers and facilitators in their work. Commonly observed issues within family networks included the impact of caring roles, structural limitations to networks, and experiences related to stigma and trust. Network related intervention opportunities included early identification, support for community integration efforts, and child skills building. Barriers included lack of needs identification, communication gaps, and staff workload pressures. Potential facilitators include ongoing training, interdisciplinary collaboration, and consistency in staff/family relationships. This brief report offers valuable insights for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers emphasising the utility of relational approaches when working with families affected by parental mental illness.

Authors: Nevard, I; Brooks, H; Gellatly, J; Handerer, F; Bee, P

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer
• Journal: Community Mental Health Journal
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1429-1436
• Publication date: 2025-10-06
• Acceptance date: 2025-04-24
• DOI: 10.1007/s10597-025-01470-z
• EISSN: 1573-2789
• ISSN: 0010-3853
• Language: English
• Keywords: Children of Parents with Mental Illness; Community Mental Health Services; Parental Mental Illness; Social Networks; Children and Youth; Social Network Analysis