CARING FOR MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN IN MH TREATMENT

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DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): This research enhancement project is submitted as a component of the Social Work Research Development Center (SWRDC). Consistent with scientific goals of the Center, we will study ecological factors in the lives of mothers that affect their own and their child's illness, and their decisions to obtain treatment. Parental psychopathology is a relatively neglected risk factor in child psychiatry. In our pilot study 18/33 (54%) mothers who brought their children for care met criteria for anxiety and depressive disorders, and only 3 of these were receiving treatment. We believe that maternal disorders are common child settings, and that treatment of ill mothers is important for the health of both child and mother. However, too often mothers do not obtain treatment for themselves. Our long term goal is to develop a program for mothers who bring their children for treatment which ensures that maternal needs are recognized and met, and, in particular, that ill mothers receive effective treatment. In this proposal we will determine the prevalence of maternal diagnosis, provide referral of diagnosed mothers, and conduct a six-month follow-up to document outcome, including whether referred mothers obtain treatment for themselves. We are concerned that even if excellent treatment is available, mothers may not receive it, because ecological factors may hinder them. We will utilize a quasi-experimental design to study relationships between maternal illness, child illness and treatment attendance. This proposal represents a rare collaboration between senior social work and psychiatric faculty with combined expertise in clinical treatment research, family studies and caregiver burden, a group uniquely suited to conduct the proposed studies.