Living With a Mentally Ill Parent: Exploring Adolescents’ Experiences and Perspectives

Although a considerable body of research has described the implications of parental mental illness, the perspectives of children and adolescents have rarely been addressed. In this article, I explore adolescents’ experiences in everyday life, based on an action-oriented study of a Norwegian online s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2012-02, Vol.22 (2), p.174-188
Main Author: Trondsen, Marianne V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adolescent
Adolescents
At risk youth
Child of Impaired Parents - psychology
Children
Fear
Female
Health technology assessment
Humans
Internet
Loneliness
Male
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mentally ill parents
Norway
Openness
Parents
Parents & parenting
Qualitative research
Self help
Self-Help Groups
Selfhelp groups
Sorrow
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although a considerable body of research has described the implications of parental mental illness, the perspectives of children and adolescents have rarely been addressed. In this article, I explore adolescents’ experiences in everyday life, based on an action-oriented study of a Norwegian online self-help group for adolescents (aged 15 to 18) with mentally ill parents. The analysis was conducted through participant observation of the group for 2 years. The adolescents experienced a variety of difficult challenges related to their parent’s mental illness: lack of information and openness; unpredictability and instability; fear; loneliness; and loss and sorrow. However, they also discussed strategies for active management of the challenges arising from the family situation. I argue that these adolescents can be understood as vulnerable as well as active participants in managing their everyday lives. I emphasize the importance of including perspectives of children and adolescents in further research so as to improve health care for families with parental mental illness.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732311420736