Citation

Gladstone BM, McKeever P, Seeman M, Boydell KM. Qual. Health Res. 2014; 24(9): 1171-1182.

Affiliation

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1049732314528068

PMID

24659228

Abstract

We report an ethnographic analysis of a psycho-education and peer-support program for school-aged children of parents with mental illnesses. We conducted a critical discourse analysis of the program manual and observed group interactions to understand whether children shared program goals predetermined by adults, and how, or if, the intervention was responsive to their needs. Children were expected to learn mental illness information because "knowledge is power," and to express difficult feelings about being a child of a mentally ill parent that was risky. Participants used humor to manage group expectations, revealing how they made sense of their parents' problems, as well as their own. Suggestions are made for determining good mental health literacy based on children's preferences for explaining circumstances in ways they find relevant, and for supporting children's competencies to manage relationships that are important to them.

Language: en