Premium
Exploring Parents' Self‐Blame in Relation to Adolescents' Mental Disorders
Author(s) -
Moses Tally
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00589.x
Subject(s) - blame , psychology , mental health , clinical psychology , demographics , single parent family , attribution , developmental psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , sociology , demography
This study examined whether parents of adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders self‐blame for their child's disorders; their reasons for self‐blame; and the relationships between parental self‐blame and lower psychological well‐being, perceived stigmatization, social support, potential hereditary factors related to adolescents' mental disorders, demographics, and youths' clinical characteristics. Analysis of qualitative and quantitative interview data was used to classify 68 parents as “more” or “less” (40%) inclined to self‐blame. The most common reasons for parental self‐blame included perceived (a) bad parenting, (b) ineffective oversight of child's mental health status, (c) passing on “bad genes,” and (d) negative family environment. Greater parental self‐blame was related to parents' lower psychological well‐being and associated with potential hereditary transmission, family support, and adolescents' clinical characteristics.