Mental illness in parents is a biological and environmental risk factor to which young people are exposed. Living with a parent suffering from a mental disorder may have a variety of detrimental consequences, including: (a) the reversal of caregiving (“parentification”), similarly to what happens in children looking after somatically ill parents; (b) the exposure to an adverse environment, where developmental needs of the child (emotional and practical) might be repeatedly neglected due to lack of parental resources or to a compromised family functioning (lack of communication, high expressed emotion, etc..); (c) stigma and discrimination. The main of this symposium is to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of research in this field, identifying the main areas of needs of these children, providing data about their and discussing some interventions which have been developed and tested so far.

Given the high toll paid by children having parents suffering from severe mental disorders, it is urgent to develop, test and implement structured programmes to help these children cope with stressful circumstances and improve their resilience. This symposium wants to provide a contribution in this direction.