Associations of warzone veteran mental health with partner mental health and family functioning: Family Foundations Study

AbstractWe examined pathways from pre-existing psychosocial and economic vulnerability to mental health difficulties and stress in families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from two time points from a multi-cohort study initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic were used. Parents of children 6–18 years completed questionnaires on pre-COVID-19 socioeconomic and demographic factors in addition to material deprivation and stress due to COVID-19 restrictions, mental health, and family functioning. Youth 10 years and older also completed their own measures of mental health and stress. Using structural equation modelling, pathways from pre-existing vulnerability to material deprivation and stress due to COVID-19 restrictions, mental health, and family functioning, including reciprocal pathways, were estimated. Pre-existing psychosocial and economic vulnerability predicted higher material deprivation due to COVID-19 restrictions which in turn was associated with parent and child stress due to restrictions and mental health difficulties. The reciprocal effects between increased child and parent stress and greater mental health difficulties at Time 1 and 2 were significant. Reciprocal effects between parent and child mental health were also significant. Finally, family functioning at Time 2 was negatively impacted by child and parent mental health and stress due to COVID-19 restrictions at Time 1. Psychosocial and economic vulnerability is a risk factor for material deprivation during COVID-19, increasing the risk of mental health difficulties and stress, and their reciprocal effects over time within families. Implications for prevention policy and parent and child mental health services are discussed.

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Perceived mental health in parents of children with rare congenital surgical diseases: a double ABCX model considering gender

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases ◽

10.1186/s13023-021-01998-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Johannes Boettcher ◽

Holger Zapf ◽

Mareike Fuerboeter ◽

Rojin Nazarian ◽

Konrad Reinshagen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Family Functioning ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Positive Association ◽

Mothers And Fathers ◽

Parental Adaptation ◽

Double Abcx Model ◽

Pile Up ◽

Double Abcx ◽

Abcx Model

Abstract Background Previous research has supported the utility of the Double ABCX model of family adaptation for parents in various diseases. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how raising a child with rare congenital surgical diseases impacts the mental health of both mothers and fathers. Methods The potential predictors of maternal and paternal mental health in a German sample of 210 parents of children with rare congenital surgical diseases were investigated. Parents were investigated cross-sectionally utilizing standardized psychometric questionnaires that assessed factors attributed to parental adaptation within the Double ABCX model. Results Stressor pile-up, family functioning, perceived stress, and mental health were positively associated with mothers and fathers. However, further analyses revealed that family functioning, social support, and perceived stress fully mediated the positive association between stressor pile-up and mental health in mothers, but not fathers. Conclusion Our findings suggest that parental adaptation to a rare congenital surgical disease in their children may be improved by increased intra- and extrafamilial resources and decreased perceived family-related stress in mothers, but not fathers. Our results may help to identify gender-specific factors that may guide clinicians and future interventions.

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Family functioning but not social capital is associated with better mental health in adolescents affected by violence and displacement by armed conflict in Colombia

International Journal of Social Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/00207640211045417 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002076402110454

Author(s):

William Tamayo-Aguledo ◽

Alida Acosta-Ortiz ◽

Aseel Hamid ◽

Carolina Gómez-García ◽

María Camila García-Durán ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Capital ◽

Family Functioning ◽

Armed Conflict ◽

Composite International Diagnostic Interview ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Diagnostic Interview ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Cognitive Social Capital

Background: The effect of the Colombian armed conflict on the mental health of adolescents is still poorly understood. Aims: Given social interventions are most likely to inform policy, we tested whether two potential intervention targets, family functioning and social capital, were associated with mental health in Colombian adolescents, and whether this was moderated by experience of violence and displacement. Methods: We examined the cross-sectional association between family functioning, cognitive social capital, structural social capital and 12-month prevalence of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) diagnosed psychiatric disorder, using data on 12 to 17-year-old adolescents ( N = 1,754) from the 2015 National Mental Health Survey of Colombia, a nationally representative epidemiological study. We tested whether associations survived cumulative adjustment for demographic confounders, experience of non-specific violence and harm and displacement by armed conflict. Results: Neither structural nor cognitive social capital were associated with better mental health. Better family functioning was associated with reduced risk of poor mental health in an unadjusted analysis (OR 0.90 [0.85–0.96]), and after cumulative adjustments for demographic confounders (OR 0.91 [0.86–0.97]), non-specific violence and harm (OR 0.91 [0.86–0.97]) and social capital variables (OR 0.91 [0.85–0.97]). In the final model, each additional point on the family APGAR scale was associated with a 9% reduced odds of any CIDI diagnosed disorder in the last 12 months. Conclusions: Better family functioning was associated with better mental health outcomes for all adolescents. This effect remained present in those affected by the armed conflict even after accounting for potential confounders.

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