Protective effect of bilingualism on aging, MCI, and dementia: A community-based study.

INTRODUCTION: Lifelong bilingualism is associated with a delayed age at onset of dementia, but evidence from community-based studies is limited. We investigated the relationship between bilingualism and the prevalence of cognitive impairment in a linguistically diverse community. METHODS: A door-to-door community study was conducted from January to December 2021 in urban Bengaluru, India. 1234 individuals aged ≥60 years participated in the study. Participants were diagnosed with no cognitive impairment (NCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or dementia using established diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: Dementia prevalence was higher in monolinguals (4.9%) than bilinguals (0.4%) (P = .001). The prevalence of MCI was also higher in monolinguals (8.5%) than bilinguals (5.3%) (P = .001). The study also revealed better cognitive function in bilinguals than monolinguals with NCI, after controlling for confounding variables. DISCUSSION: The current study provides significant support for the protective effect of bilingualism on cognitive impairment in an urban community with extensive bilingual interactional contexts in everyday life. HIGHLIGHTS: Bilingualism has been demonstrated to protect against dementia and mild cognitive impairment in a linguistically diverse community with extensive code-switching contexts. Bilingual older individuals had superior baseline cognitive performance compared to monolingual older individuals. Bilingualism was found to have an independent effect on general cognition after adjusting for major social determinants of health in the group without cognitive impairment.

Experience of Administering Life Grid in the Qualitative Interviews with Adolescent Children of Parents with Mental Illness.

BACKGROUND: Methodological literature on qualitative research with children and young people suggests that traditional data collection methods can be strengthened through the use of creative and task-based methods. This article discusses the experience of using one such task-based method called the life grid, to explore the experiences of adolescent children who have a parent with psychotic illness, in the Indian context. METHODS: The life grid was adapted for the present study and used with 24 adolescents aged 15-19 years. Feedback about their experience was collected on a five-point rating scale and via open-ended questions. The researchers' observations and reflections were noted down as field notes. RESULTS: A majority of the adolescents (83%) reported liking the activity. They appreciated the opportunity to use the life grid to generate a holistic perspective of their lives. Difficulties in recalling negative past events and language barriers were some of the challenges in the activity. CONCLUSIONS: The life grid appears to be an appropriate and useful tool for qualitative research with adolescents in India. This article contributes to ongoing discussions over culturally relevant methodologies and issues among child researchers in India.

Children of Parents with Mental Illness: The Need for Family Focussed Interventions in India.

Family interventions have been an integral part of mental healthcare in India for several decades. This paper highlights the need for an emerging change in the nature of family interventions in India-from generic interventions for heterogeneous caregiver groups to interventions addressing particular needs based on family stages and structures. It makes a case for recognizing the experiences and needs of one such group, that is, families affected by parental mental illness with children in their care and summarizes the current status of research on this topic in the Indian and global context. It presents implications for future research in India and discusses preliminary ideas for professionals working in adult mental health settings to address the needs of children and families affected by parental mental illness.

Talking to children about parental mental illness: The experiences of well parents.

BACKGROUND: Children of parents with mental illness are not routinely included in psychoeducational and supportive family interventions provided by adult mental health systems. The family, therefore, is an important and, sometimes, the only source of information and support for them. AIM: To understand the experiences of well parents in talking to their children about parental mental illness. METHOD: This article presents the findings of a qualitative study of the experiences of well parents in talking to their children about parental mental illness. Ten well parents whose spouses were diagnosed with a severe mental illness participated in the study. Socio-demographic information, family details and history of the spouse's mental illness along with their experiences of talking to children about parental mental illness, the perceived risks and benefits, challenges they faced and the role of others in the process were recorded. Qualitative data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. FINDINGS: The themes of 'distancing children from parental mental illness', 'avoiding conversations about the illness', 'giving and receiving emotional support', 'providing explanations of the illness' and 'regulating other sources of information' show the complex ways in which well parents influence their children's understanding of parental mental illness. The findings are examined in the background of what is known about this topic from the perspective of children or of the parent with illness. Possible ways to support well parents in families affected by parental mental illness are discussed. CONCLUSION: This study is a step forward in the understanding of how families talk to children about parental mental illness and provides the perspective of the well parent.