The author describes an exploratory, qualitative research study focusing on 10 single, low-income mothers with chronic mental illness who lived with their children in a supportive residential program. The mothers were interviewed and observed at the child-care center associated with the program. In addition, a comparison group of eight low-income, single mothers whose children attended a community day-care center were interviewed. The two groups of mothers viewed their children as central to their lives. Both groups of spoke of struggles. The mentally ill mothers’ struggles pertained to maintaining custody, whereas the non-mentally ill mothers focused on economic survival. Overwhelmingly, the mothers with mental illness wanted to live normal lives as mothers, wives, and workers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ApfelR. J., & HandelM. H. (1993). Madness and loss of motherhood: Sexuality, reproduction, and long-term mental illness.Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
2.
BachrachL. L. (1988). Chronically mentally ill women: An overview of service delivery issues. In BachrachL. L. & NadelsonC. C. (Eds.), Treating chronically mentally ill women (pp. 1–17). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
3.
Bagedahl-StrindlundM. (1986). Mentally ill mothers and their children: An epidemiological study of antenatal care consumption, obstetric conditions, and neonatal health. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 74, 32–40.
4.
BiedermanJ., RosenbaumJ. F., HirshfieldD. R., FaroneS. V., BolducE. A., GerstenM., MeningerS. R., KaganJ., SnidmanN., & ResnickJ. S. (1990). Psychiatric correlates of behavioral inhibition in young children of parents with and without psychiatric disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 21–26.
5.
BuistA. E., DennersteinL., & BurrowsG. D. (1990). Review of a mother-baby unit in a psychiatric hospital. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 24, 103–108.
6.
BurdenD. (1986). Single parents and the work setting: The impact of multiple job and homelife responsibilities. Family Relations, 35, 37–43.
7.
BurmanB., MednickS. A., MachonR. A., PamasJ., & SchulsingerF. (1987). Children at high risk for schizophrenia: Parent and offspring perceptions of family relationships. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 364–366.
8.
CasianoM. E., & HawkinsD. R. (1987). Major mental illness and childbearing: A role for the consultation-liaison psychiatrist in obstetrics. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 10, 35–50.
9.
CohlerB. J., & MusickJ. S. (1983). Psychopathology of parenthood Implications for mental health of children. Infant Mental Health Journal, 4, 140–164.
10.
ConradM., & HammenC. (1989). Role of maternal depression in perceptions of child maladjustment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 663–667.
11.
CoverdaleJ., AruffoJ., & GrunebaumH. (1992). Developing family planning services for female chronic mentally ill outpatients. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 43, 475–478.
12.
CrosslingP., BrookerA., & McGrathG. (1988). Nursing mentally ill mothers with their babies. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 6, 41–50.
13.
DavenportY. B., Zahn-WaxlerC., AdlandM. L., & MayfieldA. (1984). Early child-rearing practices in families with a manic-depressive parent. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 230–235.
14.
DavidsonJ., & RobertsonE. (1985). A follow-up study of post partum illness, 1946–1978. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 71, 451–457.
15.
DenzinN. K. (1989). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
16.
DowneyG., & CoyneJ. C. (1990). Children of depressed parents: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 108(1), 50–76.
17.
Erlenmeyer-KimlingL., & CornblattB. (1987). The New York high-risk project: A follow-up report. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 451–461.
18.
FishB. (1987). Infant predictors of the longitudinal course of schizophrenic development. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 395–409.
19.
GoodmanS. H. (1987). Emory University project on children of disturbed parents. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 383–394.
20.
GoodmanS. H., & BrumleyH. E. (1990). Schizophrenic and depressed mothers: Relational deficits in parenting. Developmental Psychology, 26, 31–39.
21.
GrossD. (1989). At-risk children of the mentally ill. Joumal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 27(8), 14–19.
22.
HammenC., BurgeD., BurneyE., & AdrianC. (1990). Longitudinal study of diagnoses in children of women with unipolar and bipolar affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 1112–1117.
23.
JenningsA., JenningsC., SommerJ., & BursteinE. (1987). A parents’ survey of problems faced by mentally ill daughters. Hospital and Community psychiatry, 38, 668–670.
24.
JorgensenA., TeasdaleT. W., ParnasJ., SchulsingerF., SchulsingerH., & MednickS. A. (1987). The Copenhagen high-risk project: The diagnosis of maternal schizophrenia and its relation to offspring diagnosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 753–757.
25.
KleinD. N., DepueR. A., & KraussS. P. (1986). Social adjustment in the offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 8, 355–366.
26.
LeeC. M., & GotlibI. H. (1989). Clinical status and emotional adjustment of children of depressed mothers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 478–483.
27.
LiebermanA. F. (1985). Infant mental health: A model for service delivery. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 14, 196–201.
28.
McEvoyJ. P., HatcherA., AppelbaumP. S., & AbernethyV. (1983). Chronic schizophrenic women's attitudes toward sex, pregnancy, birth control, and child rearing. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 34, 536–539.
29.
McLanahanS. S. (1983). Family structure and stress: A longitudinal comparison of two-parent and female-headed families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 347–357.
30.
Radke-YarrowM., NottelmannE., MartinezP., FoxM. B., & BelmontB. (1992). Young children of affectively ill parents: A longitudinal study of psychosocial development. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 68–77.
31.
SameroffA. J., SeiferR., & BarocasR. (1983). Impact of parental psychopathology: Diagnosis, severity, or social status effects. Infant Mental Health Journal, 4, 236–249.
32.
SameroffA., SeiferR., & ZaxM. (1982). Early development of children at risk for emotional disorder. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 47(199), 1–82.
33.
SameroffA., SeiferR., ZaxM., & BarocasM. (1987). Early indicators of developmental risk: Rochester longitudinal study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 383–394.
34.
SchwabB., ClarkR. E., & DrakeR. E. (1991). An ethnographic note on clients as parents. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 15, 95–99.
35.
SimosB. G. (1979). A time to grieve: Loss as a universal human experience.New York: Family Service Association of America.
36.
StiffmanA. R., JungK. G., & FeldmanR. A. (1986). A multivariate risk model for childhood behavior problems. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 56, 204–211.
37.
StiffmanA. R., JungK. G., & FeldmanR. A. (1987–88). Parental mental illness, family living arrangements, and child behavior. Journal of Social Service Research, 11, 21–34.
38.
StewartD. E. (1989). Psychiatric admission of mentally ill mothers with their infants. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 34–37.
39.
StottF. M., MusickJ. S., ClarkR., & CohlerB. J. (1983). Developmental patterns in the infants and young children of mentally ill mothers. Infant Mental Health Journal, 4, 217–235.
40.
TestM. A., & BerlinS. B. (1981). Issues of special concern to chronically mentally ill women. Professional Psychiatry, 12, 136–145.
41.
TetiD. M., GelfandD. M., & PompaJ. (1990). Depressed mothers’ behavioral competence with their infants: Demographic and psychosocial correlates. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 259–270.
42.
TorreyE. F. (1988). Surviving schizophrenia: A family manual (rev.). New York: Harper and Row.
43.
WaldoM. C., RoathM., LevineW., & FreedmanR. (1987). A model program to teach parenting skills to schizophrenic mothers. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 1110–1112.
44.
WalkerE., & EmoryE. (1983). Infants at risk for psychopathology: Offspring of schizophrenic parents. Child Development, 54, 1269–1285.
45.
WebsterJ. (1992). Split in two: Experiences of the children of schizophrenic mothers. British Journal of Social Work, 22, 309–329.
46.
WeintraubS. (1987). Risk factors in schizophrenia: The Stony Brook high-risk project. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 439–450.
47.
WeissmanM. M., LeafP. J., & BruceM. L. (1987). Single-parent women: A community study. Social Psychiatry, 22, 29–36.
48.
WeissmanM. M., PrusoffB. A., GammonG. D., MerikangasK. R., LeckmanJ. F., & KiddK. K. (1984). Psychopathology in the children (ages 6–18) of depressed and normal parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23, 78–84.
49.
Zahn-WaxlerC., MayfieldA., Radke-YarrowM., McKnewD. H., CytrynL., & DavenportY. B. (1988). A follow-up investigation of offspring of parents with bipolar disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 506–509.
