RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify risk factors and protective factors for the mental health problems of the children of mothers with mental illnesses. METHODS: We interviewed 136 mothers with mental illnesses, each of whom had at least one child under age 18, using a structured questionnaire to obtain sociodemographic data, clinical characteristics (diagnosis, chronicity, number of hospitalizations, symptom severity) and protective factors, such as social support and parental and marital cohesion. In addition, these mothers completed the Korean personality rating scale for their children, evaluating their children's mental health problems (behavioral, emotional, and developmental). RESULTS: High scores on measures of mental health problems in children correlated with significantly lower economic level, fewer social supports, lower marital and parental cohesion and more symptoms associated with the mother's mental illness. Using a decision tree analysis, we determined the important predictors were protective factors (parental cohesion, economic level, and social support), even though risk factors, such as mother's symptoms, were also important. CONCLUSION: This study proposes that for these children, preventive interventions that meet mothers' needs could minimize psychopathology in their children.