How Do Parents With Bipolar Disorder Perceive the Risk to the Next Generation? Results From a Qualitative Study

Abstract

Objectives

There are several high-risk studies of children of parents with bipolar disorder (BD); however, the impact of being an “At-Risk” parent has seldom been studied. The aim is to explore how parents with BD perceive their potential heredity and how they feel toward their children being invited to take part in high-risk family studies.

Methods

Qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 14 participants. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed inductively using qualitative content analysis by researchers with different professional backgrounds. Data collection continued until no new themes emerged, suggesting data saturation.

Results

Five main themes were identified: (1) parenting outweighs genetics, (2) guilt—the emotional burden of parenting with bipolar disorder, (3) self-stigmatization, (4) challenges in communication within the family, and (5) reflections on participation in research. Parents often took on the role of a Bipolar-Detective, monitoring their child's mental health and took precautions hoping to prevent them from developing BD. Subtle differences were noted between mothers' and fathers' reflections.

Conclusion

This was a qualitative study of selected families with BD parents; the findings should therefore be interpreted with caution. The participants were concerned about their children's well-being due to BD, emphasizing their own parenting challenges over genetic risk. Future studies should address parental fears alongside treating BD and offer guidance on communicating with their children. While most viewed high-risk family study participation positively, some worried about potential pathologizing of their children. These aspects are critical and noteworthy when engaging with children from high-risk families.