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Fachbereichskolloquium Psychologie

Prof. Dr. Giovanni de Girolamo, Catholic University Milan/Italy: „Children of parents with mental disorders: Needs assessment and model interventions”

Veranstaltungsdaten

Prof. Dr. Giovanni de Girolamo, Catholic University Milan/Italy

„Children of parents with mental disorders: Needs assessment and model interventions”

Mental disorders in parents is a biological and environmental risk factor to which children and adolescents are exposed. Living with a parent suffering from mental disorder (including alcohol/substance misuse) may have a variety of detrimental consequences, including alcohol/substance misuse) may have a variety of detrimental consequences, including: (a) the reversal of caregiving (“parentification”), similarly to what happens in children looking after somatically ill parents; (b) the exposure to an adverse environment, where developmental needs of the child (emotional and practical) might be repeatedly neglected due to lack of parental resources or to a compromised family functioning (lack of communication, high expressed emotion, etc..); (c) stigma and discrimination. Children and adolescents living in such family contexts often have problems of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, cognitions of shame, guilt, and loneliness, perceptions lacking social support and acceptance, are up to two a half times more likely experience poorer mental health outcomes than their peers. Given the high toll paid by chidren having parents suffering from severe mental disorders, it is urgent to develop, test and implement in Europe structured programmes to help these children cope with stressful circumstances and improve their resilience. The main aim of this symposium is to provide a comprehensive review of the main areas needs these children and indicate i indicate i a comprehensive review of the main areas needs these children and indicate the interventions which have been developed and tested so far in different European cou tries. It will also be presented a COST initiative on children and adolescents of parents with mental disorders involving 32 countries.