Parental Mental Illness as a Risk Factor for Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders: A Registry-Based Study of Specialized Child and Adolescent Health Services

Abstract

Parental mental illness is a major risk factor for youth psychopathology, but few studies have used data from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to investigate this group. We used a unique linkage between a CAMHS-registry and a large population-based survey of Norwegian adolescents aged 16–19 years. Nine hundred and seventy adolescents received CAMHS, of whom 87 (9%) were registered with a parent with mental illness. These adolescents had increased odds for a range of psychiatric disorders and comorbidity compared with CAMHS-patients. These findings underscore the need to consider parental mental illness when assessing and treating adolescents with psychiatric disorders.