Knowing What to Do and Being Able to Do It: Influences on Parent Choice and Use of Practices to Support Young People Living with Mental Illness

Abstract

A parent's response to a young person's mental illness can influence their recovery and wellbeing. Many parents devote considerable time and energy to supporting a young person experiencing mental illness and engage in numerous different practices to do so. Yet little is known about why parents use particular practices. This article explores this question through qualitative analysis of parent perspectives. Interviews with 32 parents of young people living with mental illness were analysed using constant comparative analysis. Findings suggest that parents' choice of and ability to carry out particular practices are shaped by: their knowledge and beliefs; their personal resources and constraints; and their social and service networks. Further, parents took active measures to optimize these influences. By understanding the complexity of their own potential influence on both knowing what to do and being able to do it, health professionals can better enable parents to support young adults experiencing mental illness.

A Systematic Review of Parent and Caregiver Mental Health Literacy

“…Correlates of knowledge. Personal and family experience of mental health issues and help-seeking, as well as exposure to mental health related information, were associated with greater parent and caregiver mental health knowledge in five studies Honey et al, 2015;Hurley et al, 2017;Lopez et al, 2009;. Diagnosis of a family member (77.0%) and prior treatment experiences (75.9%) were identified by mental health professionals as the primary influences on parent and caregiver knowledge .…”

“…Stigma. The relationships between stigma, knowledge, and help-seeking were mixed, as reported in five qualitative studies (Honey et al, 2015;Hurley et al, 2017;Montgomery & Terrion, 2016;Mohammad et al, 2012;Umpierre et al, 2015). Immigrant mothers espoused stigmatising attitudes about mental illness despite having knowledge of mental health and help-seeking options (Montgomery & Terrion, 2016).…”

“…Parent and caregivers identified both formal and informal sources of mental health information. In three qualitative studies, those parents and caregivers with experience of mental health disorders reported that they learned about mental health and treatment options through contact with mental health professionals (Honey et al, 2015;Mohammad et al, 2012;Umpierre et al, 2015). Caregivers in Malaysia described learning through the experience of caring for a person with mental illness (Mohammad et al, 2012).…”

“…Friends and co-workers were identified by 70.1% of mental health professionals as the primary source of parents' knowledge, with family the second biggest influence . Parents and caregivers reported that they gain information and advice from friends, family and peers (Honey et al, 2015, Umpierre et al, 2015York & Jones, 2017) and learned about mental health through exposure to online and print material (Frauenholtz, Conrad-Hiebner, & Mendenhall, 2015;Honey et al, 2015;Mohammad et al, 2012).…”

A theory of youth mental health recovery from a parental perspective

“…This theory hypothesises that mental health is influenced by all people in the family and should be treated in a systemic manner. Extensive research has directly underlined the role of parents in supporting youth mental health recovery (Delaney & Engels-Scianna, 1996;Dooley & Fitzgerald, 2012;Honey, Alchin, & Hancock, 2014;Honey, Fraser, Llewellyn, Hazell, & Clarke, 2013;Honey et al, 2015;Resendez, Quist, & Matshazi, 2000). The salience of the parental role is felt to be due to the young person's developmental stage and the need for parents to facilitate the acquisition of understanding, support engagement with services and help with developing effective coping skills.…”