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Lookup NU author(s): Emeritus Professor Jan Scott
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© 2017 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd. Background: Studies of potential interventions for asymptomatic individuals at risk of severe mental disorders (ie, clinical stage 0) have focused on genetic counselling or the views of adults with established disease. No study has interviewed youth at risk of bipolar disorders (BD). Methods: Qualitative analysis of interviews with asymptomatic adolescent offspring of adults with BD (OSBD=7) and unrelated parents with bipolar disorders (PBD=6) to examine manifest and latent themes in the dialogue. Results: Core themes in both groups were ignorance regarding the magnitude of risk of BD onset in offspring and greater concerns for the health of other family members than for oneself. Parents expressed anxieties in coping with the uncertainty about whether their children would inherit BD and their desire to reduce this risk was partly driven by guilt and their sense of responsibility; PBD favoured the introduction of specialized clinical OSBD services. In contrast, the priority for OSBD was advice on coping with a parent with BD; OSBD favoured access to generic non-clinical peer group support, which they perceived as less stigmatizing than specialist services. Conclusion: The study highlights that youth at risk of BD should be allowed to express their ideas on what interventions they believe are likely to be most beneficial for them, as their views may differ from other advocates who are routinely consulted, such as PBD. A noteworthy finding was that OSBD thought that being included in the clinical dialogue about their parents' BD would decrease rather than increase their stress levels.
Author(s): Davison J, Scott J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Early Intervention in Psychiatry
Year: 2018
Volume: 12
Issue: 6
Pages: 1112-1119
Print publication date: 01/12/2018
Online publication date: 11/02/2017
Acceptance date: 13/11/2016
ISSN (print): 1751-7885
ISSN (electronic): 1751-7893
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12421
DOI: 10.1111/eip.12421
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