title: Children of mentally ill parents-a pilot study of a group intervention program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The transgenerational transmission of mental disorders is one of the most prominent risk factors for the development of psychological disorders. Children of mentally ill parents are a vulnerable high risk group with overall impaired development and high rates of psychological disorders. To date there are only a few evidence based intervention programs for this group overall and hardly any in Germany. We translated the evidence based Family Talk Intervention by Beardslee (2009) and adapted it for groups. First results of this pilot study are presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  This investigation evaluates a preventive group intervention for children of mentally ill parents. In a quasi-experimental design three groups are compared: an intervention group (Family Talk Intervention group: n = 28), a Wait Control group (n = 9), and a control group of healthy children (n = 40). Mean age of children was 10.41 years and parental disorders were mostly depressive/affective disorders (n = 30), but a small number also presented with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (n = 7).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children of mentally ill parents showed higher rates of internalizing/externalizing disorders before and after the intervention compared to children of parents with no disorders. Post intervention children's knowledge on mental disorders was significantly enhanced in the Family Talk Intervention group compared to the Wait Control group and the healthy control group. Parental ratings of externalizing symptoms in the children were reduced to normal levels after the intervention in the Family Talk Intervention group, but not in the Wait Control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This pilot study of a group intervention for children of mentally ill parents highlights the importance of psycho-education on parental mental disorders for children. Long-term effects of children's enhanced knowledge about parental psychopathology need to be explored in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anding
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Bastian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schrott
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Röhrle
keywords: children; intervention; mentally ill parents; prevention; transgenerational transmission mental disorder