Young People's Response to Parental Neurological Disorder: A Structured Review
Lilian Hartman1, Crispin Jenkinson2, David Morley2
1Lincoln College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3DR, UK.
Insights
Children often experience negative impacts from parental neurological disorders. Guidance tailored to specific diseases is needed to support affected children and families.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Child Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Limited research exists on the impact of parental neurological disorders on children, unlike other serious parental illnesses.
- Existing literature on parental cancer, depression, and other conditions highlights potential challenges for children.
- A comprehensive review of parental neurological disorder's impact on children is necessary.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the existing literature on the impact of parental neurological disorders on children.
- To identify common challenges and outcomes for children experiencing parental neurological illness.
- To inform the development of disease-specific guidance and clinical management strategies.
Main Methods:
- A literature review structured around the World Health Organization's (WHO) classification of 10 common neurological disorders.
- A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE database using keywords for each neurological condition.
- Categorization of child responses into 'negative', 'positive/neutral', and 'other' for each disorder.
Main Results:
- Sixty-five studies met eligibility criteria from an initial search of 6247 titles.
- Common negative outcomes included child mood disorders, role reversal, and need for information.
- Family cohesion and parental psychopathology were significant factors; positive outcomes were rare.
Conclusions:
- Children generally exhibit negative responses to parental neurological disorders.
- Variations in responses across different neurological conditions necessitate tailored guidance.
- Disease-specific support and clinical management are crucial for affected children.
Introduction:
A significant paucity of literature exists relating to the impact on children of parental neurological disorder, with the exception of multiple sclerosis. The wider literature in this field (parental cancer, depression, alcoholism, HIV/AIDS) exhibits the many potential challenges young people might experience during serious parental illness. Given this, a literature review of parental neurological disorder is long overdue.
Methods:
This review is structured around the World Health Organisation (WHO) classification of neurological disorders. The WHO identifies 10 common neurological disorders; dementia, epilepsy, headache, multiple sclerosis, neuroinfections, neurological disorders associated with malnutrition, pain associated with neurological disorders, Parkinson's disease, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE database was performed using key terms for each of the 10 conditions. Results for each condition were divided in to "negative", "positive and/or neutral" and "other" child responses.
Results:
The search yielded a total of 6247 titles, of which 184 underwent a full-text assessment. Sixty-five met all eligibility criteria and were thus included in the review. A number of negative issues emerged across parental conditions including the prevalence of child mood disorders, parent-child role reversal, children's need for information on the parental condition, the importance of family cohesion, the negative effect of parental psychopathology and differences between male and female children. A limited number of positive outcomes were evident in a minority of parental conditions. Outcomes measured and methodologies employed were highly heterogeneous.
Conclusion:
Children generally respond negatively to parental neurological disorder. Responses varied between neurological disorders, suggesting the need for parental disease-specific guidance and clinical management where required.
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