Moving the field forward: Developing online interventions for children of parents with a mental illness

Abstract

Parental mental illness has the potential to affect children adversely. These children report a higher risk of developing a mental illness than other children. At the same time, some young people are resilient in the face of adverse situations arising from their parent's illness, especially when appropriate interventions are provided. While there are several interventions available to support young people with parents with a mental illness, there are few online interventions. Additionally, much of the previous work in this area, including intervention development and evaluation, has not included the child's point of view about what they want. Clearly, there is a gap in current research regarding the development of interventions that are available online and are informed by children. This research note aims to further the argument for developing online interventions for children of parents with a mental illness.