cns.sciedupress.com Clinical Nursing Studies 2019, Vol. 7, No. 1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE A parent’s perspective of the bidirectional impact of mental illness in families Michael Frederick Naughton *1 , Darryl Maybery 1 , Melinda Goodyear 1,2 1 Monash University, School of Rural Health, Australia 2 The Parenting Research Centre, Australia Received: July 1, 2018 Accepted: September 7, 2018 Online Published: September 17, 2018 DOI: 10.5430/cns.v7n1p46 URL: https://doi.org/10.5430/cns.v7n1p46 ABSTRACT Objective: Recent research has found over 70% of children attending a mental health service also have a parent with a mental illness. Research on the impact of mental illness in families focuses primarily on how parental mental illness impacts on children. What is not understood is the experience of parents and children where both have a mental illness. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of parents where both a child and a parent have a mental illness. Methods: Thirty-seven parents were interviewed using a narrative design to determine their personal and family experiences. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis with a number of themes highlighted. Results: Themes particular to this family type were: impact of parental mental illness; specific strategies; bidirectional impacts of mental illness; and intergenerational factors. Also raised were supports parents would have liked. From the narrative of these parents the challenges of families, where both a parent and a child have a mental illness, are highlighted. Conclusions: It is from these interviews, that awareness of clinicians can be raised, and more effective, well-thought-out interventions put in place. Interventions that take account of the bidirectional influences of mental illness will be more successful in meeting the needs of all members of a family. People do not operate in isolation and providing a family focused approach is an essential first step in helping people manage where mental illness is a prevalent factor for different family members. Key Words: Family, Parent, Child, Mental illness, Bidirectional impact 1. I NTRODUCTION Many studies consider the unidirectional impact of mental illness with a lot known about the role of endogenous and ex- ogenous risk factors in the development of mental illness. [1] This knowledge stems from research that indicates children are at “high-risk” for developing psychopathology, [2] partic- ularly with a genesis in the family. Walker and Diforio [3] highlight prenatal environmental factors as influencing fetal development. Halmoy et al. [4] and Badcock and Crespi [5] suggest parental genes are determining factors for the devel- opment of children’s mental illness. The genetic component though, is a part of a much larger picture of environmental and social influences. The number of children of parents with a mental illness de- veloping mental illness themselves cannot be underestimated. The van Santvoort et al. [6] systematic review of 76 papers found a strong relationship between parental disorders and various childhood disorders. A recent review of nine studies of adult psychiatric services found parent numbers amongst service users ranging from 12.2 to 45.0 percent. [7] Leijdes- dorff et al. [1] proposed children of parents with a mental illness have a 50 percent chance of developing mental illness * Correspondence: Michael Frederick Naughton; Email: michael.naughton@monash.edu; Address: Monash University, School of Rural Health, Australia. 46 ISSN 2324-7940 E-ISSN 2324-7959