Parents with a mental illness and their sense of parenting competence

ABSTRACT

Objective

Research provides evidence that parental mental illness affects child development through parenting behaviour. This study investigates how parents with a mental illness report on their parenting sense of competence.

Method

A sample of 141 parents receiving treatment at a clinic for mental health and substance use disorders participated. The Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC) was used to assess participants’ parenting sense of competence. Information about diagnoses, child age and participation in a preventive family intervention called Child Talks was also collected. PSOC scores from our sample was compared to normative samples.

Results

Parents with a mental illness reported having equal or higher PSOC scores compared to the normative samples. Neither children’s age, comorbidity nor parents’ diagnosis affected PSOC scores. PSOC satisfaction score was a significant predictor for participation in Child Talks, where lower scores were related to a small increase in participation rate.

Discussion

The results indicate that parents with a mental illness do not view or report feeling less competent in the parenting role than the general population. We discuss the validity of the results and if there are factors that may influence parents’ reports such as stigma, fear of losing custody and impaired self-awareness.

KEYWORDS:

• Parenting
• PSOC
• prevention
• parental mental illness
• parenting sense of competence
• parenting self-efficacy

Acknowledgements

The data used for this article is part of a larger study performed in cooperation between RKBU North, the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN) and the non-governmental organization Adults for Children (Voksne for Barn). We would like to thank all participants and contributors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of interest statement

There are no conflicting interests for authors in this study.

Data availability statement

Data can be made available on request to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The study was approved by the Data Protection Officer at the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN). The regional ethics committee (REK) categorized the project as a quality assurance project (ref. 2011/2066/REK nord). Data used for this study is anonymous.

Additional information

Funding

This study has been funded by the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU Nord) at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.