Staying connected: young adults' felt obligation toward parents with and without mental illness

The present study compares 94 young adults' self-reported felt obligation toward parents, psychological symptoms, psychological well-being, and interpersonal loneliness in three family types: families where a mother has serious mental illness, families where a father has serious mental illness, and families with nondistressed parents. Results indicated no significant differences in felt obligation toward mothers or fathers as a function of family type. Young adults with a mother with serious mental illness reported significantly more psychological adjustment difficulties than their peers with a father with serious mental illness or nondistressed parents. Young adults' reports of felt obligation toward both parents were significantly positively correlated with young adults' psychological adjustment in families with a parent with serious mental illness, but were not significantly correlated in families with nondistressed parents. Study limitations, future directions for research, and implications for clinical practice are discussed.