Health of children whose parents seek psychiatric care

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Abstract
A total of 69 preschool children whose parents, mainly mothers, had sought care at a department of psychiatry in Stockholm [Sweden] were studied. The majority of the parents had attended for current ambulatory treatment (58%) or had only come to the emergency room (25%). The children demonstrated a significantly higher frequency of somatic and emotional symptoms than a matched control group. To a large extent, the index children showed failure to thrive without any apparent organic cause. In exceptional cases there had been cooperation between the departments of psychiatry and pediatrics (1 case) as well as between the departments of psychiatry and social welfare (5 cases). There is an urgent need to develop methods within the scope of psychiatric care whereby the best interests of both the parents and the children are taken into consideration.