This study aims to investigate the long-term effects (2.5 years after post-intervention) of a preventive family-based intervention (VIA Family) compared with treatment as usual (TAU) for children of parents with a severe mental illness.

Background:

Children of parents with a mental illness have an increased lifetime risk of developing a mental illness themselves. Preventive interventions for families with children with high familial risk can potentially disrupt the transgenerational transmission.

The current study is a follow-up study of a trial investigating the effect of the preventive intervention: the VIA Family trial.

The VIA Family trial investigated the superiority of a preventive family-based intervention, VIA Family, compared with treatment as usual (TAU) in improving children's, parents' and families' functioning and well-being. Eligible families had at least one parent with a lifetime severe mental illness diagnosis ( i.e. recurrent major or moderate depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia spectrum disorder), at least one child between the ages of 6-12 years and lived within the Frederiksberg or Copenhagen (Denmark). The trial had a randomized, two-armed, parallel and controlled design. The participating families were randomly assigned to both groups with an allocation ratio of 1:1.

The current study is a follow-up study aiming to explore the effect of the intervention 2.5 years after post-intervention.

The main research questions for the current follow-up study are:

1. Do children participating in the VIA Family intervention experience a greater decrease in symptoms of mental illness from baseline (timepoint 0) to long-term follow-up (timepoint 2) compared with children allocated to TAU?
2. Do parents participating in the VIA Family intervention experience a greater decrease in perceived parental stress from baseline (timepoint 0) to long-term follow-up (timepoint 2) compared with parents allocated to TAU?

Inclusion Criteria:

• Child must have address registered in the municipality of Frederiksberg or Copenhagen.
• At least one of the biological parents must have a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar affective disorder or recurrent major depression.
• The parent with a diagnosis must have had at least one in- or outpatient contact with the mental health system within the lifetime of the child.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parents who do not speak and understand enough Danish to be able to give informed consent for their own and for the child's participation.
• If all family members are currently engaged in an intensive family intervention program addressing parental functioning and child development, they are excluded from the study.