A Qualitative Descriptive Study about the Living Difficulties and Factors of Adult Children of a Parent with a Mental Illness: Focused on Mother with Schizophrenia-spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to describe the living difficulties of adult children of a parent with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Methods: We conducted individual, semi-structured interviews with seven adult children of a parent with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Data were analyzed using qualitative descriptive methods. Results: The parents of six participants had schizophrenia and one had paranoid disorder. The participants reported the following living difficulties: "Relationship and thoughts with my mother became fetters in my own life," "The after-effect of the ingrained behavioral and thought habits due to having had a mother with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder," "Lack of skills provided by parents," "Being dragged down by traumatic experiences," "A lack of understanding of true self, and what it means to live for myself," "Feeling pain due to comparisons with other family environments." Conclusions: Various conditions which caused or reinforced the living difficulties of these adult children were recognized for each living difficulty. Society needs to become more aware of the living difficulties of children of parents with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders after they reach adulthood and promote support and treatment for them. Family support should be continuously provided to both parents with mental illness and their children ever since the latter's childhood, and they should not be isolated from society.