Children whose parents have
a mental illness
Measurement scales and questionnaires
Useful websites - links
Being a child of a parent who has a mental illness (COPMI) involves considerable risk to the child’s secure attachment and long-term mental health. Parental mental health concerns place children at a significantly greater risk of lower social, psychological and physical health than children in families not affected by mental illness. We have undertaken a number of research and evaluation projects aimed at investigating and improving the circumstances for such children. These included our initial involvement with the Supporting Children, Whose Parents Have a Mental Illness, Pilot Project involving a group of community mental health and welfare agencies in the North East of Victoria. Then followed the VicHealth, Beyond Blue and Victorian Mental Health Branch VicChamps project. An add on to this project involved a major Charles Sturt University population research project and finally our involvement again with VicHealth in examining key risk factors for COPMI children. These projects are outlined below.
The VicChamps final report has now been published and is available below. The report describes a model of best practice for families affected by parental mental illness. Hopefully this information will provide direction to the Government of Victoria and various agencies within the mental health and welfare sectors. The report also contributes useful information to a larger evidence base, thereby improving future programs for children and families.
Also below is an 8 page glossy pamphlet that describes the outcomes from the recently completed VicChamps and PATS evaluation projects. This publication highlights the key outcomes and learnings from the projects: Paying Attention to Self (PATS) with a focus on young people aged 12 to 18 years and VicChamps, which worked with children aged 5 to 12 years. The latter is the subject of the VicChamps Final Report below.
VicChamps Final Report
Maybery, D.J., Reupert, A.E. & Goodyear, M. (2006). Evaluation of a model of best practice for families who have a parent with a mental illness. Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.
VicChamps Report (PDF1.8mb)
VicChamps and PATS pamphlet
Maybery, D.J., Reupert, A.E., Basinski, D., Hodges, C. & Smith, A. (2006). Promoting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people from families with a parental mental illness: Key learnings and promising practices, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne and Charles Sturt University, Bathurst. Key Learnings and Promising Practices
Our Recent COPMI Projects
2001-2003: Supporting Kids: Children, Whose Parents Have a Mental Illness, Pilot Project
This was a local community initiative that was conceived at a ‘grass roots level’ by listening and responding to requests from parents who have a mental illness and being aware of their perceptions of the support needs of their children. A community forum was held in 2001 to enable discussion and consideration by parents, spouses, professionals, service providers and guest speakers, of what the perceived needs of the children in the Eastern Hume Region might be; what resources existed; what service gaps were identified; and examples of some programs currently attempting to address this need in other regions.
A distinct service gap and deficit in the resources available within this area of practice was recognised. With this combination of identified lack of funding and services available to support children whose parent/s have a mental illness, and the complex needs of this group, interagency collaboration from both mental health and non-mental health services was deemed to be essential to enable any program to be sustainable and successful in identifying and meeting the needs of this group of children. A steering group of committed key stakeholders has been in operation since April 2001.
Agencies within the collaborative partnership for Supporting Kids
A substantial lack of evidence-based research in the area was also identified. A partnership with the Psychology Section and Education at La Trobe University (Albury-Wodonga campus) was forged to meet this need. This partnership was commenced with La Trobe University (Associate Professor Lorraine Ling and Dr Darryl Maybery) late in 2001. This led to a successful grant application that combined a $25200 (including in-kind support) contribution from the community for the pilot project supported by a Regional Sustainability research grant of $9837 from the Research and Graduate Studies Committee of La Trobe University. This led to several several qualitative interviews and a brief quantitative questionnaire - the study as a whole focusing on examining the opinion of children, their parents and mental health agency staff in the region. It also led to the publication: The Needs of Children Whose Parents Have a Mental Illness.The Needs of Children Whose Parents Have a Mental Illness.
In addition, this led to the 2005 publication Children of Parents with a mental illness: perspectives on need. in the Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health.
This collaboration has also resulted in a number of other important outcomes. Late in 2002 the partnership won (from 19 contenders) a $10,000 award from the Victorian Health Association and Herald Sun newspaper. In addition, the Department of Human Services allocated $85,000 in funds to the project and the Central Hume Primary Care Partnership also allocated $50,000 in funds.
2003-2006: VicChamps Project
In collaboration with Eastern Health (Melbourne) we successfully obtained funding from VicHealth, beyondblue and Victorian Mental Health Branch. This larger collaboration received $550,000 over 3 years to deliver programs to children with parents who have a mental illness.
In addition, we (Dr. Darryl Maybery and Dr. Andrea Reupert from Charles Sturt University (Wagga Wagga campus) were successful in being awarded the $150,000 evaluation component to that project. In total this has led to over $880,000 being allocated to Children of Parents with a Mental Illness in Victoria for the period.
The project aims to examine and ultimately outline best practice programs for COPMI children. For a brief overview of the funding model, programs and evaluation approach see our 2004 symposium at The Mental Health Conference on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia) in 2004 titled Families experiencing mental illness shouldn't cope alone: Creating community partnerships and responses for at risk children and young people.
Evaluation
The evaluation has several components including appraising programs for 5-7 and 8-12 year olds children and training programs for mental health, welfare and education work forces including workforce development. Within the evaluation we have developed a number of scales including Kids Connections, Kids Problems, Kids Coping and mental health and welfare change measures (the former will soon be available on this site contact Darryl Maybery for details). In addition, a group of Charles Sturt University students have assisted in the collection of a matching normative data set (n=700). Normative data were collected during 2005 as part of a fourth year psychology project by a team of researchers that included Sharron Steer, Sharon Lopez, Kerrie Bowles, Peter Marcon, Deborah Costa, Rani Ritchie, Mia Neville and Jessica Wilson. Information about these measures was recently presented at the 2005 From Parents to Children: The Impact of Parental Mental Illness on Children conference in Athens, Greece. See the following for details (contact Darryl Maybery for details):
Maybery, D.J., Goodyear, M., E. & Reupert, A.E. (2005). Measuring connections, problems and coping in 8-12 year old children whose parents have a mental illness, From Parents to Children: The Impact of Parental Mental Illness on Children, Athens, Greece.
Maybery, D.J., Reupert, A.E. & Goodyear, M., E. (2005). Measuring connections,
problems and coping in 8-12 year old children whose parents have a mental
illness: preliminary data including normative comparisons, From Parents
to Children: The Impact of Parental Mental Illness on Children, Athens,
Greece.
Maybery, D.J. & Reupert, A.E. (2005). Mental health workforce barriers
to responding to children whose parents have a mental illness, From Parents
to Children: The Impact of Parental Mental Illness on Children, Athens,
Greece.
VicChamps Final Report
Maybery, D.J., Reupert, A.E. & Goodyear, M. (2006). Evaluation of a model of best practice for families who have a parent with a mental illness. Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.
VicChamps Report (PDF1.8mb)
VicChamps and PATS pamphlet
Maybery, D.J., Reupert, A.E., Basinski, D., Hodges, C. & Smith, A. (2006).
Promoting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people from
families with a parental mental illness: Key learnings and promising
practices, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne and Charles
Sturt University, Bathurst. Key Learnings and Promising Practices
Journal publications
Maybery, D.J., Reupert, A.E., Patrick, K., Goodyear, M.
& Crase, L. (submitted 2007). Prevalence of children whose parents have a
mental illness. Psychiatric Bulletin.
Reupert, A., Green, K., & Maybery, D. (in press).
Family care plans for families affected by parental mental illness. Families
in Society.
Reupert, A., & Maybery, D. (in press). Fathers
experience of parenting with a mental illness. Families in Society.
Reupert, A.E. & Maybery, D.J. (2007). Families affected
by parental mental illness: Issues and intervention points for stakeholders.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 77(3) 362-369.
Reupert, A. & Maybery, D. (2007). Strategies and issues
in supporting children whose parents have a mental illness within the school
system. School Psychology International 28(2) 195-205.
Maybery, D.J. & Reupert, A.E. (2006). Workforce
capacity to respond to children whose parents have a mental illness.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 40(8) 657-664.
Maybery, D.J., Ling, L., Szakacs, E. & Reupert, A.E.
(2005). Children of a parent with a mental illness: perspectives on need,
Australian e-journal of mental health, 4 (2) 1-11
Maybery, D.J. et al. (2005). Symposium: Families experiencing mental illness should not cope alone. Creating community partnerships and responses for at risk children and young people. Contemporary THEMHS in mental health services 2004 conference proceedings.
Book chapters
Maybery, D.J. & Reupert, A.E. (2007). Early adolescence and mental health in
Knipe, S (Ed.) Middle Years Schooling; Reframing Adolescence, Allan and
Unwin, Sydney
Reupert, A.E. & Maybery, D.J. (forthcoming). Working with families affected by parental mental illness in Moore, E. (Ed.) Community Care Case Management Oxford University Press
Maybery, D., Ling, L. & Szakacs, E. (2003). The needs of children whose
parents have a mental disorder. Unpublished Manuscript