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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1425519
This article is part of the Research Topic Parents with Mental and/or Substance Use Disorders and their Children, Volume III View all 29 articles

The impact of treating parental bipolar disorder and schizophrenia on their children's mental health and wellbeing: An empty systematic review

Provisionally accepted
Beril Can Beril Can 1,2*Victoria Piskun Victoria Piskun 2Abigail L. Dunn Abigail L. Dunn 3Samantha Cartwright-Hatton Samantha Cartwright-Hatton 2
  • 1 University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
  • 2 School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Sussex, United Kingdom
  • 3 School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Parental psychosis (bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) are major risk factors for mental health problems in offspring. Although interventions that focus on parenting and the family environment have shown effectiveness in mitigating this risk, no systematic review has examined the impact of simply treating adult bipolar disorder or schizophrenia on their dependent children's outcomes. Aims: To systematically review the effects (in randomized controlled trials) of adult-based interventions for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, on offspring mental health and wellbeing. Method: Eligibility criteria included randomized controlled trials that examined the treatment of adults with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that also included child mental health and wellbeing outcomes. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and PsychArticles databases were searched. Results: 168,317 studies were reviewed; however, zero studies that met the inclusion criteria could be found. Conclusions: The existing research aimed at treating adult bipolar disorder and schizophrenia has so far overlooked the potential advantages that these treatments could provide for their offspring. This is a missed opportunity to understand the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission. Researchers examining treatments for adults with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia should, where appropriate, consider including both adult and child mental health outcomes in their trials.

    Keywords: Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, intergenerational transmission, Parents, Children, Treatment, prevention

    Received: 29 Apr 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Can, Piskun, Dunn and Cartwright-Hatton. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Beril Can, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.