Children in Care--the Association With Mental Disorder in the Parents

Summary A study was made of 31 families of children who had stayed incare for at least 12 months, and of 26 families (coming fromthe same district) with children who had been in care for upto three months. Information about the parents' mental healthwas obtained from social work records, psychiatric records andinterviews with the parents. The parents of children in carefor the longer period were more likely to have received psychiatrictreatment and appeared to suffer from more severe or longstandingdisorders, as evidenced by admissions into psychiatric hospitaland type of psychiatric diagnosis. However our most strikingfinding was the high rate of past and current psychiatric disorderin the total sample of parents; this appeared to be an importantfactor influencing children's admissions into, and dischargefrom, care.