Mental health, coping and family-functioning in parents of young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and with anxiety disorders.

OBJECTIVE To compare mental health, coping and family-functioning in parents of young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and no known mental health problems. METHOD Parents of young people with OCD (N = 28), other anxiety disorders (N = 28), and no known mental health problems (N = 62) completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1993), the Coping Responses Inventory (Moos, 1990), and the McMaster family assessment device (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983). RESULTS Parents of children with OCD and anxiety disorders had poorer mental health and used more avoidant coping than parents of non-clinical children. There were no group differences in family-functioning. CONCLUSION The similarities across the parents of clinically referred children suggest that there is a case for encouraging active parental involvement in the treatment of OCD in young people.

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