|
Abstract
|
INTRODUCTION
Severe mental illness (SMI), including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or some personality disorders, is responsible for a substantial proportion of disability in the population. More than this, offspring of parents with SMI are at an increased risk of developing mental and other health problems. Preliminary research has found some positive outcomes for prevention programs for children of parents living with an SMI, but these programs are scarce and difficult to develop in the real clinical practice.
Fifteen years ago a Follow-up and Care Program for Offspring of SMI patients was developed in Granada (Andalusia, Spain), and it has continued on an ongoing but irregular basis to date. Here we present the results about the mental health in the population of SMI patients’ offspring in the last 10 years.
OBJETIVES
1) To describe the group of these children followed the last 10 years from our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit because of their own mental health problems.
2) To describe the mental health problems presented in this group, its relationships with the psychiatric disorders of their parents, and the evolution of these children along 10 years.
METHODS
Data collected from the longitudinal follow-up of these children will be presented. These data were obtained from the psychiatric and psychological records of the children.
RESULTS
The mental health problems of greater incidence in these children were behavioural problems (F90 codes in ICD-10), followed by anxiety disorders (F40 codes) and developmental disorders (F80 codes).
After the evaluation of the data it is verified that the majority of cases with pathology persisted in the adult life of these children.
CONCLUSIONS
Coordinated and multidisciplinary work in the health system can improve early detection and care of mental health problems in this population. However, there are few programs with published data, so further research is needed to determine their real cost-effectiveness and the results in terms of mental health.
|
