Perceived parental rearing of bipolar offspring

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology
• Family Studies

Background:

• Parental mental illness, particularly bipolar disorder (BD), can impact offspring development.
• Understanding offspring perceptions of parenting is crucial for assessing family dynamics in BD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare perceived parental rearing between young adult offspring of parents with BD and a general population sample.
• To investigate the relationship between perceived parental rearing, parental psychopathology, and offspring psychopathology.

Main Methods:

• 129 offspring of parents with BD and 1122 general population controls participated.
• Parental rearing was assessed using the EMBU (Eggplant, Maternal, and Paternal Bonding Questionnaire).
• Offspring psychopathology was evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV).

Main Results:

• Offspring of parents with BD perceived mothers as less rejecting and overprotecting, and fathers as less emotionally warm and overprotecting, compared to controls.
• Perceived parental rejection was significantly associated with offspring psychopathology.
• Offspring with BD specifically perceived their parents as more rejecting.

Conclusions:

• Parental rearing in families with a parent with BD is not perceived as more dysfunctional overall by offspring compared to the general population.
• Perceived parental rejection is a key factor linking parental BD to offspring psychopathology.