Schizophrenia Parents With Schizophrenia Parents With a

Schizophrenia Parents with Schizophrenia Parents with a mental illness have been shown to have offspring that have an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorder themselves. A psychiatric illness in a parent can impact the emotional, social and behavioral aspects of their children's lives. Furthermore, there is also a stigma that is associated with schizophrenia that prevents detection and treatment of this disorder that in turn makes children more vulnerable to the effects of having a parent with the disorder.

For instance, a number of studies have reported greater rates and greater severity of neurological, motor, and cognitive impairments among offspring of parents with schizophrenia. This was most pronounced among offspring of parents with schizophrenia: almost 20% of children from this group in one particular study exhibited some neurological dysfunction at birth compared to less than 6% of children of unaffected parents. This analysis will look at some of the implications that parents with schizophrenia can have on their children.

Coverage of Content Schizophrenia can be difficult to identify when it first manifests because there is a stigma associated with the disorder that is negative and prevents individuals from willfully seeking treatment for their disorder. One study used a Link's Devaluation-Discrimination Scale to measure levels of schizophrenia stigma in a sample of parents of Japanese middle and high school students (Ling, Wantanabe, Yoshi, & Akazawa, 2014). The study used an intervention that consisted of a web-based educational program on schizophrenia and recorded stigma scores before and after watching the content.

The study found that the viewed of the web-based educational program had no significant effect on the population in general. However, the study focused on the individuals, whose level of stigma changed significantly, either increasing or decreasing, and was able to identify some factors that seem to be correlated with the changes.

Among these factors were employment status and it was found that the individuals who were employed were more likely to decrease their stigma level compared to their unemployed counterparts and this was explained as possibly being related to the level of contact with a wider range of people with different predispositions.

Another study looked at the design and initial outcomes of the New England Family Study's (NEFS) High-Risk Project ) to prospectively identify and compare rates of childhood neurological impairments among offspring of psychotic and nonpsychotic parents, with a particular emphasis on offspring risk in relation to specific classes of parental psychosis (Buka, Seidman, Tsuang, & Goldstein, 2013).

The study found that at birth, the 259 offspring of parents with psychosis had approximately a twofold increased risk of abnormal neurological functioning compared to offspring of families with no psychotic history which was most pronounced among the 58 offspring of parents with schizophrenia (Buka, Seidman, Tsuang, & Goldstein, 2013). Despite the increased risks associated with children of parents with a psychiatric disorder, there are also some potential advantages that can be gained in the coping mechanisms that ensue.

For example, another study used a sample comprised of 45 offsprings of parents with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD?10 and found that a large percentage (80%) of offsprings were functioning well and the fact that majority of the parents had supportive relationship among themselves once again bring attention to the fact that family support exists for patients with schizophrenia (Herbert, Manjula, & Philip, 2013).

Although the experiences they had were primarily negative, satisfactory relationship either with the healthy parent or with extended family members potentially contributed toward their resilience as adults as they developed coping mechanisms to deal with the disorder. Conclusion This literature review considered three research projects that focused one schizophrenic parent and the effects that their disorders have on their children. One study considered the role that stigma plays in the way that individuals with schizophrenia are viewed from different social constructs. Another study focused on the risks that are.