The ARCH Lab has recently published a paper titled “Family Functioning and Health-Related Quality of Life in Parents of Children with Mental Illness” in the Journal Child and Family Studies using data from the “Multimorbidity In Youth Receiving Mental Health Services” study.

Previous research suggests that family dysfunction may be related to lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in parent caregivers, but it is unknown if this association exists in the context of child mental illness, which this paper addressed.

Results showed parents had significantly lower physical and mental HRQoL versus Canadian norms. Family functioning was not associated with parental physical HRQoL. However, lower family functioning predicted lower parental mental HRQoL.

These findings support the importance of collaboration among healthcare providers, children, and their families (i.e., family-centered care) in child psychiatry settings. Future research should explore possible mediators and moderators of these associations.