Olivia Silber Ashley, DrPH¹, Mindy Herman-Stahl, PhD¹, Michael Penne, MPH², David Weitzenkamp, PhD², Karl Bauman, PhD¹, and Molly Aldridge, MPH¹. (1) Health, Social, and Economics Research, RTI International, PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, (919) 541-6427, osilber@rti.org, (2) Statistics Research Division, RTI International, PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Past research has documented the deleterious effects of parental mental illness on children’s psychiatric, academic, and social well-being. However, little is known about the prevalence and distribution of mental illness among parents living with a child. This presentation examines the prevalence and correlates of serious mental illness (SMI) among a nationally representative sample of 15,000 parents living with their children aged 17 or younger. Data are from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a survey of the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 12 or older. The NSDUH assessed past year SMI using the six-item K6 screening scale. Parental responses were analyzed for differences across known and hypothesized socio-demographic risk factors, and a multivariate model of SMI was developed. Among parents living with a child, approximately 8 percent had experienced SMI during the past year. Prevalence of SMI was similar among parents and other adults of the same general age range. Prevalence of SMI was higher among single or divorced, lower income, or less educated parents compared to married, higher income, or more well-educated parents. SMI was also more common among mothers than fathers. Parents aged 45 or older or who lived in the Midwest were less likely to have experienced SMI than those younger than age 45 or living in other regions. These findings generally mirror those of other studies of mental illness among adults. Future research will use parent-adolescent paired data to assess the impact of parental SMI on adolescents.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the prevalence of serious mental illness among parents living with a child
• Discuss differences in the rate of serious mental illness among sociodemographic groups of parents living with a child
• Describe multivariate modeling results quantifying the unique contribution of individual sociodemographic risk factors to the prevalence of serious mental illness among parents

Keywords: Data/Surveillance, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.