Professionals’ opinions on support for people with chronic illness in their roles as parents in mental or in general health care

Chronic illness affects a person’s wellbeing and affects the ability to perform the social roles of spouse or parent. When working with people with long-lasting mental or somatic illnesses, social workers and nurses are confronted with needs for support, especially for parents. Although programs are in place for the children of parents with chronic illnesses, specific services for the parents themselves are scarce, as are parenting support courses for professionals. In an explorative study we investigated the similarities and differences between mental health organizations and general hospitals in providing support to parents. Using a cross-sectional design, information on supported parenting was collected through an internet questionnaire. Twice as many professionals in general hospitals can provide support to parents than did those in mental health organizations that were not trained in supported parenting. Professionals in mental health institutions generally reported that the attention paid to the parental role is insufficient. However, professionals in mental health organizations who were trained in supported parenting considered paying attention to the parental role more as a part of their job than the participants from organizations without such training. Further research should expand this first pilot study on the attitude of professionals towards supported parenting

Strategies for parenting by mothers and fathers with a mental illness

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: The combination of coping with their mental health problems and caring for children makes parents vulnerable. Family-centred practice can help to maintain and strengthen important family relationships, and to identify and enhance the strengths of a parent with a mental illness, all contributing to the recovery of the person with the mental illness. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO THE EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Taking the strength and the opportunities formulated by parents themselves as a starting point is fairly new. Parents with severe mental illness find strength for parenting in several ways. They feel responsible, and this helps them to stay alert while parenting, whereas parenthood also offers a basis for social participation through school contacts and the child's friendships. Dedication to the parent role provides a focus; parents develop strengths and skills as they find a balance between attending to their own lives and caring for their children; and parenting prompts them to find adequate sources of social support. In this study these strategies were found to be the fundamentals of recovery related to parenting. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Nurses can support and coach patients who are identified as parents, and self-chosen parenting related goals are set and addressed. A family-focused approach by nurses can be used to prevent problems for children and their families, identify their strengths as well as vulnerabilities, and address the challenges to build resilience. ABSTRACT: Introduction Understanding of the problems of parents with mental illness is growing. Gaining insight into strategies for parenting, while taking the opportunities formulated by these parents themselves as a starting point is fairly new. Question What are the strategies of parents with a mental illness to be successful? Method Experiences of 19 mothers and eight fathers with a mental illness were explored with in-depth interviews. Data were content analysed, using qualitative methods. Results Next to feelings of inadequacy, interviewees also describe how children enrich and structure their lives and are not only a burden but serve as distraction from problems. Developing activities that interest both child and parent provides avenues for emerging strength. Mental illness constrains fathers, but also gives opportunities to develop a meaningful relation with their children. Discussion Strategies like being fully dedicated to the parental role, finding a balance between attention for one's own life and parenting and finding adequate sources of support are found to be fundamental for recovery in the parent role. Implications for practice Peer groups can be of valuable help and mental health workers can support parents to set self-chosen parenting related goals

Ouderschap en psychiatrische rehabilitatie:kunnen ouders profiteren van een nieuwe benadering?

Poster op Phrenos Rehabilitatiecongres 21 mei 2015. Eerste prijs

The normative development of child and adolescent problem behavior. [IF 3.2]

The aim of this study was to identify normative developmental trajectories of parent-reported problems assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. M. Achenbach, 1991) in a representative sample of 2,076 children aged 4 to 18 years from the general population. The trajectories were determined by multilevel growth curve analyses on the CBCL syndromes in a longitudinal multiple birth-cohort sample that was assessed 5 times with 2-year intervals. Most syndromes showed a linear increase or decrease with age or a curvilinear trajectory, except for thought problems. Trajectories for most syndromes differed for boys versus girls, except those for withdrawn, social problems, and thought problems. These normative developmental trajectories provide information against which developmental deviance in childhood and adolescence can be detected

Shear viscosity of an ordering latex suspension

The shear viscosity of a latex which is ordered at rest is studied as a function of the shear rate and volume fraction. At low shear rates and for moderate to high volume fractions, the flow curves show dynamic yield behavior which disappears below a volume fraction of 8%. At high shear rates, the onset to the high shear rate plateau of the viscosity can be observed. A new model for the shear viscosity for lattices at high volume fractions is described. This model is based upon theories for the shear viscosity of dilute lattices of Blachford et al. [J. Phys. Chem. 73, 1062 (1969)] and Russel [J. Fluid Mech. 85, 673 (1978)]. In terms of this model, the ordered latex is broken down under shear flow into ordered domains suspended in a disordered fluid. The larger the shear rate, the smaller the volume fraction of ordered domains. The experimental results can be described reasonably well with the model discussed here

Differential predictive value of parents' and teachers' reports of children's problem behaviors: A longitudinal study

This study investigated the prediction of signs of disturbance in 946 children originally aged 4 to 11 years from the general population across a 6-year period. Parents' and teachers' ratings obtained via the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher's Report Form (TRF) were tested as predictors of (a) academic problems, (b) school behavior problems, (c) receipt of mental health services, (d) child's need for professional help, (e) suicidal behavior, and (f) police contacts. Total problem scores in the deviant range on the CBCL or TRF were significantly associated with poor outcomes 6 years later. The combination of deviant scores on both the CBCL and TRF was a powerful predictor of poor outcomes with 56% of the girls, and 36% of the boys with total problem scores in the deviant range on both instruments maladjusted 6 years later. The CBCL syndromes Attention Problems and Delinquent Behavior, and the TRF syndromes Delinquent Behavior, Somatic Complaints, and Social Problems significantly predicted poor outcomes. Teachers' reports predicted poor outcomes equally well or even somewhat better than parents' reports. It is important to include teacher information in the diagnostic assessment of children

Parenting and psychiatric rehabilitation:can parents with severe mental illness benefit from a new approach?

Abstract: Objective: The aim of this pilot implementation study was to explore the initial experiences with and impact of Parenting with Success and Satisfaction (PARSS), a psychiatric rehabilitation and recoverybased, guided self-help intervention, for parents with severe mental illnesses. Methods: Changes in the PARSS intervention group were compared with changes in a control group in a nonequivalent controlgroup design. Outcome measures included: parenting satisfaction reported by parents; parenting success reported by mental health practitioners and family members; empowerment as reported by parents, practitioners and family members; and parents’ reported quality of life. Additional process data were obtained on relationship with practitioner, quality of contact, satisfaction with the intervention and fidelity. Results: Parenting satisfaction increased after 1 year for the PARSS group, but not for the control group. Parents’ reports of empowerment did not change for either group. The scores of parents’ empowerment reported by practitioners and family members increased in the control group, with no such change in the PARSS group. Quality of life improved significantly for the intervention group. Process measures showed that, although PARSS was not always implemented as intended, both parents and practitioners expressed satisfaction with the intervention. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The first experiences with PARSS were mixed. This intervention, implemented by mental health practitioners, has the potential to function as a useful tool for supporting parents. Attention must be paid to enhancing intervention implementation and fidelity. doi: 10.1037/prj0000067 PMID: 2486683

Pathways of self-reported problem behaviors from adolescence into adulthood

OBJECTIVE: The authors determined the impact of different pathways of psychopathological development on adult outcome in subjects followed from ages 11-18 to ages 21-28. METHOD: Problem behaviors of subjects from a general population sample were assessed through the Youth Self-Report and the Young Adult Self-Report given at four time points (1987, 1989, 1991, and 1997). In addition, DSM-IV diagnoses, information pertaining to signs of maladjustment, and measures of social functioning were obtained at the last assessment. On the basis of the self-report ratings, four contrasting developmental pathways of psychopathology were determined: persistent, decreasing, increasing, and consistently normal. RESULTS: Subjects whose overall level of psychopathology was persistent over time had a higher lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV diagnoses and a poorer general outcome in adulthood than did subjects whose level of psychopathology increased. Subjects whose level of psychopathology returned to normal after high levels of problems in adolescence were only slightly different in terms of outcome from subjects with consistently normal ratings. CONCLUSIONS: 1) People who showed high levels of problems in early adolescence but whose level of psychopathology diminished by adulthood seemed to be as healthy as people who never attained a serious level of psychopathology. 2) An ongoing devious pathway into adulthood had negative effects on many domains of functioning. These two findings are both powerful arguments for early intervention in adolescence

Direct detection of methylation in genomic DNA

The identification of methylated sites on bacterial genomic DNA would be a useful tool to study the major roles of DNA methylation in prokaryotes: distinction of self and nonself DNA, direction of post-replicative mismatch repair, control of DNA replication and cell cycle, and regulation of gene expression. Three types of methylated nucleobases are known: N(6)-methyladenine, 5-methylcytosine and N(4)-methylcytosine. The aim of this study was to develop a method to detect all three types of DNA methylation in complete genomic DNA. It was previously shown that N(6)-methyladenine and 5-methylcytosine in plasmid and viral DNA can be detected by intersequence trace comparison of methylated and unmethylated DNA. We extended this method to include N(4)-methylcytosine detection in both in vitro and in vivo methylated DNA. Furthermore, application of intersequence trace comparison was extended to bacterial genomic DNA. Finally, we present evidence that intrasequence comparison suffices to detect methylated sites in genomic DNA. In conclusion, we present a method to detect all three natural types of DNA methylation in bacterial genomic DNA. This provides the possibility to define the complete methylome of any prokaryote