Mental health, coping and family-functioning in parents of young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and with anxiety disorders.
OBJECTIVE
To compare mental health, coping and family-functioning in parents of young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and no known mental health problems.


METHODS
Parents of young people with OCD (N = 28), other anxiety disorders (N = 28), and no known mental health problems (N = 62) completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1993), the Coping Responses Inventory (Moos, 1990), and the McMaster family assessment device (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983).


RESULTS
Parents of children with OCD and anxiety disorders had poorer mental health and used more avoidant coping than parents of non-clinical children. There were no group differences in family-functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
The similarities across the parents of clinically referred children suggest that there is a case for encouraging active parental involvement in the treatment of OCD in young people.
Derisley
Jo
J
Norfolk Mental Health Care Trust, Bethel Child and Family Centre, UK.
Libby
Sarah
S
Clark
Sarah
S
Reynolds
Shirley
S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011594:Psychometrics