Children of parents with a mental illness are
often found to be at high risk of developing psychological
problems themselves. Little is known about the role of family
factors in the relation between parental and adolescent
mental health. The current study focused on parent–child
interaction and family environment. This cross-sectional
questionnaire study included 124 families with a mentally ill
parent and 127 families without a mentally ill parent who at
the time of the study had children aged 11–16 years old.
Parents completed questionnaires about their mental health,
parent–child interaction (i.e., parental monitoring and
parental support), and family environment (i.e., cohesion,
expressiveness, and conflict). Adolescents reported their
internalizing and externalizing problems.