[Burden of Children of Patients with Mental Illness - A High Risk Population that Needs Selective and Indicated Prevention?] / Belastung von Kindern psychisch erkrankter Eltern im Normgruppenvergleich ­ eine Hochrisikogruppe für selektive und indizierte Prävention?

OBJECTIVE: To determinate behavioral problems of children of parents with mental illness. Conclusions for prevention. METHODS: Inpatients from a psychiatric hospital (N = 399) with children (4-18 yrs.) evaluated their children's behavior with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS: Children of mentally ill parents showed significantly more behavioral problems than children of healthy parents. They had overall fewer behavioral problems compared to children with mental illness, however, behavioral problems were similar with respect to "social problems" (4-11 year-old boys, 12-18 year-old girls) and "somatic complaints" (12-18 year-old boys and girls). CONCLUSION: Results indicate a selective, partly indicated, need for prevention. The data point towards certain areas of behavioral problems that should be particularly targeted when planning such programs.

[What do psychiatrists know about the children of their patients?]. / Was wissen Psychiater über die Kinder ihrer Patienten?

OBJECTIVE: Psychiatry could be a good starting point for preventive work for children of mentally ill parents by detecting children who are potentially at risk and connecting affected families with preventive services. However, it is unclear how much attention clinical psychiatrists pay for children of their patients. Therefore, this study examines the knowledge of german psychiatrists about the children of their patients and their attitude towards the youth welfare and prevention system. METHODS: Seven psychiatric hospitals of one federal state in Germany participated in a questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The majority of the psychiatrists know whether their patients have children or not, but they can not answer differentiate questions of the children's life circumstances or name preventive programs for children and their families. Furthermore, psychiatrists potentially could forestall preventive programs because of a lack of knowledge about the youth welfare. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatrists need more information about the children of their patients and about the general possibilities of prevention as well as more knowledge of supportive offers of the youth welfare.