The role of family factors in the development of mental disorders in children and adolescents

Abstract

Introduction. Mental health is the main element on which the processes of learning, adaptation and well-being of the person depend. The family structure influences the child psychologically and psychopathological. Some studies have documented the link between separation and depressive disorders. Factors that increase the likelihood of children having mental health problems are: marital conflict, increasing poverty, incomplete families, hostile parents, etc. Single-parent children are more likely to report internalization and outsourcing problems to children from whole families. Children who lived with their mother and a foreign partner showed poor emotional control and high levels of conduct problems. Children with separated parents have low selfesteem, showing more emotional and behavioral difficulties, but sometimes divorce is a better solution for the child than to grow up in an inappropriate family environment that creates a marked intrapsychic tension. The formation of the child's personality involves resolving conflicting and frustrating situations. Conflicting states between the child and the parents or between the parents, make the child anxious, untruthful, leave home, straying, stealing. Hyperprotective parents make their children restless, dependent and difficult to adapt. In the case of inconsistent, oscillating parents, who go from exaggerated harshness to excessive protection, indulgence and pampering, children have behavioral difficulties, emotional balance disorders. Some parents want to achieve their own aspirations through their children, thus appearing to have an inner conflict with their possibilities of effort, being subjected to an overload with psychic repercussions. Equally serious is the disinterest in the child's education. When the father is too demanding and the mother is too lenient, the father-mother opposition appears in the child's subconscious. When the parents are exaggeratedly severe and the educational climate is harsh, the child will have a state of distrust in his own strength, will be impulsive, ready to defend or on the contrary will be punished for anything. Aim of study. The aim is to establish the influence of family factors (unfavorable intra-family relationships, divorce, death of a parent, etc.) on the occurrence of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Methods and materials. Collection of anamnestic data and retrospective analysis of clinical observation sheets, as well as data from the literature on the studied subject. Results. It is necessary to keep developing strategies to prevent psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents oriented to the family, but also to increase the quality of life of each family member. The support network is also very important for the prevention of psychopathology. Conclusion. The family is the fundamental living environment for the existence and formation of the child's personality, as a determining educational environment, but it can be a source with a negative causal effect of maladaptation and the appearance of mental disorders. Health and social care systems must recognize family risk factors, bio-psycho-social intervention in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Currently, there is a great diversity of family structures with a direct influence on development, but the most important element remains the quality of intra-family relationships and education, which are essential for the prevention of a mental disorder.