Psychosocial Outcomes for Adult Children of Parents with Severe Mental Illnesses: Demographic and Clinical History Predictors‪.‬

Although numerous studies have established the at-risk status of children whose parents have a mental illness, few have examined those children in adulthood. The studies that have been conducted are primarily epidemiological, indicating a significantly higher risk of being diagnosed with a mental illness than adults in the general population (Erlenmeyer-Kimling et al., 1995; Erlenmeyer-Kimling et al., 1997; Gershon et al., 1988; Maier et al., 1993; Weissman, Warner, Wickramaratne, Moreau, & Olfson, 1997). Only a limited number of studies have examined psychosocial outcomes for adult children of parents with mental illness. In this article, we describe the role functioning of a sample of urban, low-income, and predominantly ethnic minority adult children of mothers with a serious mental illness. We also examine the predictors of adult child functioning, based on child and maternal characteristics and on mothers' clinical histories, including diagnosis. PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES OF ADULT CHILDREN OF MENTALLY ILL PARENTS