Parents with Mental Illness and their Children - Approaching from the Child's Proactive Narrative-

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K02481
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 09030:Childhood and nursery/pre-school education-related
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University
• Principal Investigator: HATAGAKI CHIE 静岡大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (60436988)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 親の精神疾患 / ヤングケアラー / 精神科受診 / 子の治療参加 / 子どもの主体性 / 精神医療 / 地域医療

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Purpose of the study (1) Creation of guidelines for supporting children with parents with mental illness.A paper on mental collected in Japan and Finland in 2018-2019 was accepted for publication in an international journal. This paper clarified the relationship between subjective well-being as perceived by school-aged children, school adjustment, and good family relationships.
Purpose of the study (2) To clarify the current situation in the field of psychiatry and health and welfare in Japan with regard to support for children whose parents have mental illness.
This field has recently been surveyed under the name of "young caregivers," but the definition and scope of the term remain vague. The field is still in the preliminary stage of support provision, with only steady activities led by the parties concerned and the understanding of some medical and welfare professionals.

Free Research Field

臨床心理学、発達心理学、児童福祉、母子保健

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本とフィンランドの小・中学生を対象におこなった調査から、学校適応と家族関係の良好さは子どもの主観的幸福感に関連しており、また、学校適応と学校満足度は家族関係の良好さにも関連していることが明らかになった。家族関係が安心できるものであることが子どもを学校へと送り出す基盤となり、友人関係作りを支えていると考えられるため、どちらかを一方で代替することは不十分であると言える。医師は当然ながら親の精神疾患の治療と支援を主軸にしており、子の存在には気が付いており心配はしているものの、子が未成年であれば親の治療に参加させることに躊躇する、方法が分からない、多忙さゆえに対応が困難という現状が明らかになった。