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Introduction
Background of the Study
Bipolar disorder is considered as the most prevalent mental concern and accounts for the periods of racing thoughts, elevated mood, extreme depression and insomnia. The context of elevated mood incorporates hypomania, in which individuals feel extremely energetic, engage in inadequate decision making mechanism due to hindered decision making ability and encounter with the phase of insomnia. Similarly, the context of depression inclines the individuals to develop a negative prospect of life and increases the risk of self-harm, substance abuse and at-risk suicidal behavior (Goodman et al., 2011).
The individuals with bipolar disorder are found to have a history of child-abuse and severe trauma. In this instance, the prevalence of bipolar disorder accounts for bipolar I, in which the individual encounters with one manic episode, whereas in bipolar II disorder, the individual encounters with one manic and one hypomanic episode. Its occurrence and prevalence is found to effect the family members of the individuals and hinders their quality of life by means of causing disruptions, extreme worries, inadequate personal relation and stress (Gunlicks and Weissman, 2008). The mental situation is found to be effectively treated with treatment interventions, however, the individuals with bipolar disorder are found to have at least one episode of bipolar disorder in a year, which indicates the prevalence of continuous disruptions in the life of patients and their family members (Goodman et al., 2011).
Problem Statement
The prevalence of bipolar disorder among parents is found to be highly associated with the negative effect on the mental health of children. The occurrence of bipolar disorder is found to be related with genetic and environmental factors to some extent, however, its occurrence among parents is found to be highly related to the developing depression and at-risk behavior among the children. It has been implied that the healthy development of children is dependent on the competency of mothers, whereas the competency level of depressed mothers is found to be hindered, which eventually hinders the healthy development among children (Feldman et al., 2009).
The children of parents with bipolar disorder are highly prone to develop mental illnesses, mainly comprising of anxiety, social, emotional and cognitive hindrances, and depression (Ramchandani and Psychogiou, 2009). The mothers with bipolar disorder face challenges in addressing their maternal responsibilities and an extreme level of depression can reduce their interest in addressing the wellbeing of their children. The context of depression is found to be associated with the hindered interest in daily activities, which often makes the children ignored and reduces their self-efficacy (Schenkel et al., 2008).
It also results in the development of a maladaptive behavior among the mothers and traumatize the children at a higher extent. Similarly, racing thoughts or hypomania also hinders the wellbeing of the children because mothers incorporate inconsistent and unorganized means of parenting (Ramchandani and Psychogiou, 2009). The children are found to feel extreme level of guild due to the hypomanic condition of mothers and can develop aggressive behavior or become distant with their mothers, and develop negative behaviors. It eventually makes such children highly vulnerable to the emotional and social dysfunctional behavior and hinders their wellbeing in the long-term (Goodman et al., 2011).
Purpose of the Study
The current study aims to enlighten the context of bipolar disorder among mothers and addresses the prevalence of slate and anger among their children. The children with bipolar mothers are found to be highly vulnerable to the psychological disorders and the current study is objectified to determine the extent to which the maternal aspects of mothers hinder and effect the wellbeing of their children. This study can help in understanding the interrelation between bipolar mothers and psychologically hindered children and hence, it can provide insights about the process of developing psychological concerns among children rather than healthy social and emotional development.
The rate of mental concerns has been increasing among the adolescents and has been hindering their wellbeing due to strong inclination towards juvenile and aggressive behavior. In this instance, the focus of psychologists and clinicians have been limited to the treatment of bipolar patients and hence, they fail to address the development of at-risk behavior among their children. The current study is focused to determine the factors and the process of developing at-risk behavior among children as a consequence of bipolar disorder among their mothers so that physicians and clinicians can develop integrated and holistic treatment interventions to safeguard the wellbeing of children.
Significance of the Study
The psychologists have been focused on addressing the most prevalent mental concerns of their patients, however, they fail to understand how their patients can cause extended mental concerns among their family members. This study can enlighten the psychologists about the extended context of bipolar disorder and how their prevalence among mothers has been effecting their children in a negative manner. This study can help the psychologists and counselors to visualize the prevalence of bipolar disorder in a broader perspective and incorporate adequate preventive and treatment interventions to protect the children with bipolar mothers from the consequences of inadequate parenting and neglect from their mothers. In this manner, healthy development of such children can be ensured and their inclination towards developing at-risk mental concerns can be hindered.
Research Question
The current study aims to enlighten the following research question:
How does being raised by a clinically diagnosed bipolar mother impact on levels of slate and trait anger in a developing child?
Literature Review
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Methodology
Research Design
Type and Nature of Study
The current study incorporates the qualitative study to address the research questions by means of determining the theoretical understanding related to the development of aggressive and slate behavior among the children of bipolar mothers. The current study accounts for epistemology because it helps in acquiring insights about the specific phenomena and helps in differentiating between opinions and justified beliefs. In this instance, epistemology can help in significantly identifying the significant prevalence related to the development of negative behavior among the children of bipolar mothers. Moreover, epistemology via constructivism will be incorporated to ensure that the context of current study remains objectified throughout the conduction of the research. It also ensures that the conclusions and inclinations are developed on the basis of significant explanations of the phenomena in accordance with the significant theoretical foundations, and further helps in the development of a specific model. The current study also accounts for the inductive reasoning because this study addresses the issue or field of concern from then generalized notions and aims to determine the specific notions. In this instance, inductive reasoning will help in enlightening the most prevalent theories and significant findings in order to identify a pattern or prominent factors that can help in the development of a theoretical model.
Sampling Design
The current study accounts for the case study, in which the data will be acquired from the participants by means of conducting interviews with mother-child dyads, where the mothers will have the prior bipolar disorder. The sample size will be selected via convenience sampling and hence, the accessible and available dyads will be selected for the study. This research has certain time and financial restrictions due to its academic nature and hence, 5 mother-child dyads will be interviewed to determine the prevalence of negative behavior among the children of bipolar mothers.
Procedure of Data Collection
The data will be collected via semi-structured questionnaire, in which the mothers and children will be questioned about the extent to which they are close. Moreover, the children will also be asked to enlighten their behavior so that adequate observations can be determined about their behavior. The data collection phase will initiate after acquiring permit from the research department of the restive university and afterwards, the healthcare organizations will be approached to acquire permit to meet with the psychologists and determine the willing dyads to participate in the study. The participants will be provided with the disclaimer that will ensure that their privacy will be maintained and the acquired information will be used only for the academic purpose. The meeting with the dyads will be scheduled and their responses will be recorded via audio recorded. The audio notes will be transcribed and will be used for the further analysis.
Data Analysis
The data will be analyzed by incorporating the content analysis, in which the most prominent responses will be identified and categorized. Afterwards, these categories will be transformed into meaningful data and will be used to draw conclusions.
Ethical considerations
The major ethical considerations account for the privacy of participants. In this instance, the participants will be provided with the disclaimer that will ensure that their personal information will be kept private. Moreover, the participants will be provided with the consent form that will incorporate the freedom of choice of the participants. Similarly, the participants will be empowered to withdraw from the research as per their convenience. These systematic procedures will ensure that the ethical concerns are not violated.
Projected Results and Recommendations
It is projected that the strong prevalence of environmental and familial prevalence in the emotional and social development of children will be observed. Considering the fact that the bipolar mothers are unable to provide healthy environment to their children, which will be considered as a major cause of developing slate and aggressive behavior among the children. The study will recommend the psychologists to develop holistic treatment interventions that also address the wellbeing of the children of bipolar mothers.
References
Feldman, R., Granat, A., Pariente, C., Kanety, H., Kuint, J. and Gilboa-Schechtman, E., 2009. Maternal depression and anxiety across the postpartum year and infant social engagement, fear regulation, and stress reactivity. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(9), pp.919-927.
Goodman, S.H., Rouse, M.H., Connell, A.M., Broth, M.R., Hall, C.M. and Heyward, D., 2011. Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical child and family psychology review, 14(1), pp.1-27.
Gunlicks, M.L. and Weissman, M.M., 2008. Change in child psychopathology with improvement in parental depression: a systematic review. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(4), pp.379-389.
Schenkel, L.S., West, A.E., Harral, E.M., Patel, N.B. and Pavuluri, M.N., 2008. Parent–child interactions in pediatric bipolar disorder. Journal of clinical psychology, 64(4), pp.422-437.
Ramchandani, P. and Psychogiou, L., 2009. Paternal psychiatric disorders and children's psychosocial development. The Lancet, 374(9690), pp.646-653.
