SCIE Research briefing 29: Black and minority ethnic parents with mental health problems and their children

By Ruby Greene, Richard Pugh and Diane Roberts

Published September 2008

Introduction

For the purpose of this briefing, black and minority ethnic (BME) groups in the United Kingdom include people from Black African, African–Caribbean, South Asian, and Chinese heritage. These also include other white and non-white minority groups whose cultural heritage differs from that of the majority population. This briefing covers research that helps to understand the experiences of BME families where one or both parents have severe or enduring mental health problems and where children are under the age of 18. The briefing does not include older people (those aged 65 and over), dementia, detailed evaluations of services and interventions, or experiences of particular services.

While there are some valuable studies into the effects of parental mental health problems upon their children, the amount of directly relevant research is rather limited and coverage of different minority groups is patchy. However, it is possible to generalise from the greater body of research into mental health problems in BME communities, where this establishes the wider context and where the findings may reasonably be taken as being relevant to the circumstances of BME parents with mental health problems.