Jonida Haxhiu1, Entela Bitraj1, Blerina Kodra1, Flavio Dibra1
1Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania.
Aim: Childhood mental health problems are a challenging issue for the whole society, but especially for the child’s family and parents. Diagnosing a child with a mental health problem means, in many cases, new and unknown challenges for parents.
Methods: This is a qualitative study that aims to understand the impact on parents’ lives of diagnosing children with a mental health problem. It was based on in-depth interviews, with 17 parents who had children diagnosed with various mental health problems. Participants were 10 females and 7 males, heterogeneous in educational level, socioeconomic status, etc.
Results: Participants report that diagnosing a child with a mental health problem has been a very stressful event for them. For many of them it is experienced at the level of trauma and / or as one of the most serious events in their lives. Participants also report that this situation generates ongoing stress for them as individuals, but in turn reflects on many situations, relationships and contexts of their lives.
Conclusions: Diagnosing a child with mental health problems has a significant impact on the lives of parents and affects many aspects of their individual, family and social life. Based on the data and conclusions of this study, it is recommended that mental health service providers and other involved providers emphasize the importance of preventive and treatment interventions with parents who have children diagnosed with mental health problems, due to the stress and psychological problems encountered by these parents for this reason.
Keywords: children, mental health, parents.