Psychiatric disorders in the mothers of disturbed children

School phobia: patterns of family functioning

Seventy-six families of children with school phobia were evaluated with the Family Assessment Measure. Mothers and fathers, as separate groups, rated clinically significant dysfunction in the parent-child relationship in the areas of role performance and values and norms. There were no significant differences between intact and single-parent families on ratings of family dysfunction. There was significantly less family dysfunction as rated by mothers and by children if the child had a diagnosis of pure anxiety disorder compared to families of school phobic children in other diagnostic categories.

The relative timing of psychiatric disorder in parents and children

The high incidence of psychiatric disorder in parents of disturbed children is usually explained in reactive terms implying a relationship in time. The records of children attending a child psychiatric service and the psychiatric records of their parents were examined and the time between episodes of illness in parent and child were calculated. Fathers' illnesses preceded those of their daughters, but in general, there was little evidence of any close relationship.

Ill-health in families of infants with low rate of weight gain

The present work investigated ill-health in 52 families of infants admitted to hospital with low rate of weight gain. Ill-health is measured as annual days of sickness cash entitlement, which is registered for all citizens within the state compulsory insurance scheme, with no waiting period. In the 34 families with infants having a weight gain outside the -2 S.D. limit there was a clear overrepresentation of fathers with high annual number of days of sick leave. The chief reasons for sick leave were skeletomuscular diagnoses. Comparisons are made with 18 families with infants having low rate of weight gain but within the -2.S.D. limit and 72 control families. Mothers of infants with subnormal increments tend to have more health problems than the other groups, but the differences are small. This can be explained by the use of the parent's cash benefit which covered the mothers during 210 days of the observed period, and by the differences in income between mothers and fathers. It is concluded that ill-health is overrepresented in families with infants presenting subnormal weight gain.

Patients at a paediatric out-patient clinic. A study with particular reference to psychological and social background factors. II. Earlier contacts with the health service, social background, parents' morbidity, general discussion and recommendations

Psychological factors were considered by the examining physicians to play an important part in 5.2% of approximately 4 000 initial visits to a paediatric clinic. These cases are compared with a matched control group representing the cases where the physicians judged that psychological factors were not involved. As compared with the controls, then a considerably larger proportion of the patients with symptoms associated with psychological factors had a previous history of contacts with child psychiatrists or attendence at the paediatric clinic for problems of a psychological nature. Their parents, the mothers in particular, had a higher frequency of registered sickness for mental-nervous disorders and their families had more frequently been the subject of special social inquiries or assistance. To a large extent the examining paediatrician was unaware of these background conditions. With a better case history and proper follow-up one could probably reduce the number of X-ray examinations, consultations and laboratory tests. Further training and better contacts would be facilitated if members of a children's psychiatric team were stationed within the paediatric clinic.