Behavioural problems in children with parents of schizophrenia: A comparative study

Pages: 1570-1573
Poonam (Clinical Psychologist, Shanti Mission Hospital Hisar, Haryana)
Rohtash (Clinical Psychologist, District Hospital Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pardesh)
Krishan Kumar (Department of Psychiatry, PGIMER, Chandigarh)

Having parents with mental illness negatively affects children’s social, psychological, and physical health than children are whose parents not having any mental illness. Researches also show a greater rate of behavioral, developmental, and emotional problems in these children when compared with the general population. Families who are having apparent with mental illness are at enlarged risk of financial crisis, housing problems, family interruption, decline of social and leisure activities, interference of children’s schooling and segregation because of parent’s mental illness. Children who are having parents with mental illness feel lonely, anxious about their parent health or feel they need more extra time or effort to take care of parents. The stigma for mental illness in the society also affects the lifestyle and mental health of children’s who are having parents with mental illness. The present study was planned to assess the behavioral problems in the children of parents with schizophrenia and to compare with general population. A sample of 60 parents of children from 5 to 15 years was selected for the present study. In which 30 parents were fulfilling the criteria for schizophrenia and 30 children of healthy parents who meet inclusion and exclusion criteria of study. General Health Questionnaire-12 and Childhood psychopathology measurement schedule were used for evaluation. There is significant difference has been observed in the score of Childhood Psychopathology Measurement Schedule on the domains- conduct disorder, anxiety disorder, and depression disorder, psychotic and special symptoms in both the groups. Overall findings suggest that there are more behavioral problems in children of parents with schizophrenia as compare to general population. The study finding depicts there being an association between child behavioral problems and parental mental illness.