An exploration of the social and emotional well-being narratives of children who live with a parent with a mental health difficulty

Despite increasing calls for research to contextualise children’s experiences with regard to understanding their well-being, children living with a parent with a mental health difficulty remain largely invisible in practice and research. This thesis explores children’s subjective experiences of living with a parent with a mental health difficulty. It concentrates on their social and emotional well-being experiences and contextualises these on an individual and environmental level. It focuses on the construction of children’s social and emotional well-being experiences with a particular focus on the parent-child relationship. It examines similar and disparate factors that children, parents and gatekeepers perceive as impacting on children’s social and emotional well-being. It reflects on their experiences of service provision within this context and considers the implications of the research findings for current policy and service provision in Ireland. The findings of this study are based on the narratives of children, parents and a gatekeeper elicited through a combination of creative and traditional methods. Findings highlight the need for a Family Model approach to working with such families as a means to improving outcomes for both child and parent alike