Assessment and prevention for children of parents with mental illness: An open feasibility study

Background: Children of parents with mental illness are at increased risk of developing mental illness, particularly when both parents are affected. The current knowledge about their needs and whether prevention is beneficial is limited.

Methods: In this open feasibility study, we will examine the feasibility and relevance of a research design that includes a broad measurement battery of parents with mental illness and their children and a 6-week digital prevention package in the form of parent support. The study will include 25 families where both biological parents have mental illness. Families will be recruited the year their child turns 9. The study components include an interview with parents, a broad parent-reported questionnaire battery pertaining to themselves, a broad parent-reported questionnaire battery pertaining to the child, a broad child-reported questionnaire battery pertaining to the child, a 3-hour assessment session with the child, a 6-week preventive intervention with the parent/s, parent- and child-reported questionnaire batteries after the intervention, and focus groups with parents after the intervention. The study is conducted to inform a large-scale longitudinal cohort study with a nested randomized controlled prevention trial with children of parents with mental illness that seeks to understand risk and protective factors for the developmental of youth mental illness and the effects of long-term prevention.

Trial registration: The study protocol has been uploaded to Open Science Framework (OSF): https://osf.io/8fru6/