{"title":"The Cumulative Risk of Having a Family Member With a Diagnosed Mental Disorder: A Nationwide Study of Mental Disorders in Family Networks.","authors":"Anne Sofie Tegner Anker, Signe Hald Andersen","doi":"10.1111/acps.70041","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Mental disorders are associated with high costs-at the individual and societal level. But families also shoulder large costs in the form of caring for mentally ill family members. Yet, we do not know how common it is to have a family member with a mental disorder and whether this experience falls disproportionately on those who struggle with mental disorders themselves. To fill this gap, this study estimates the cumulative risk of having a family member with a diagnosed mental disorder.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study uses full population Danish registry data to follow individuals born in 1970 and their family members (parents, siblings, partners, and children) between 1980 and 2018. The study uses nationwide records of outpatient and inpatient hospital treatment for psychiatric disorders and cumulative incidence functions to estimate the cumulative risk of having a family member diagnosed with a mental disorder.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among this cohort (N = 69,811) the cumulative risk of having a family member with a diagnosed mental disorder by age 49 is 51.4% [95% CI: 51.0%-51.8%]. Individuals diagnosed with a mental disorder themselves by age 49 (N = 9899) were 1.42 times more likely to have a family member with a mental disorder, and this difference grows for the cumulative risk of experiencing multiple family members with diagnosed mental disorders.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study provides novel nationwide estimates of how common it is to have a family member with a diagnosed mental disorder. The cumulative risk of having a mental disorder severe enough to result in secondary care treatment and diagnosis is estimated at 13.9% among the 1970 birth cohort, but many more (just above 50%) experience mental disorders through their family network. These results highlight how many individuals and families experience (severe) mental disorders at close hand and show the disproportionate potential caregiving burden carried by individuals who are themselves diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point.</p>","PeriodicalId":108,"journal":{"name":"Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.70041","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Mental disorders are associated with high costs-at the individual and societal level. But families also shoulder large costs in the form of caring for mentally ill family members. Yet, we do not know how common it is to have a family member with a mental disorder and whether this experience falls disproportionately on those who struggle with mental disorders themselves. To fill this gap, this study estimates the cumulative risk of having a family member with a diagnosed mental disorder.
Methods: The study uses full population Danish registry data to follow individuals born in 1970 and their family members (parents, siblings, partners, and children) between 1980 and 2018. The study uses nationwide records of outpatient and inpatient hospital treatment for psychiatric disorders and cumulative incidence functions to estimate the cumulative risk of having a family member diagnosed with a mental disorder.
Results: Among this cohort (N = 69,811) the cumulative risk of having a family member with a diagnosed mental disorder by age 49 is 51.4% [95% CI: 51.0%-51.8%]. Individuals diagnosed with a mental disorder themselves by age 49 (N = 9899) were 1.42 times more likely to have a family member with a mental disorder, and this difference grows for the cumulative risk of experiencing multiple family members with diagnosed mental disorders.
Conclusion: This study provides novel nationwide estimates of how common it is to have a family member with a diagnosed mental disorder. The cumulative risk of having a mental disorder severe enough to result in secondary care treatment and diagnosis is estimated at 13.9% among the 1970 birth cohort, but many more (just above 50%) experience mental disorders through their family network. These results highlight how many individuals and families experience (severe) mental disorders at close hand and show the disproportionate potential caregiving burden carried by individuals who are themselves diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point.
期刊介绍：
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica acts as an international forum for the dissemination of information advancing the science and practice of psychiatry. In particular we focus on communicating frontline research to clinical psychiatrists and psychiatric researchers.
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica has traditionally been and remains a journal focusing predominantly on clinical psychiatry, but translational psychiatry is a topic of growing importance to our readers. Therefore, the journal welcomes submission of manuscripts based on both clinical- and more translational (e.g. preclinical and epidemiological) research. When preparing manuscripts based on translational studies for submission to Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, the authors should place emphasis on the clinical significance of the research question and the findings. Manuscripts based solely on preclinical research (e.g. animal models) are normally not considered for publication in the Journal.
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