When a parent's mental illness causes child injury

The risk of violence-related injuries among children with mentally-ill parents was more than twice as high as the risk for children with parents without mental illness. — 123rf.com

Parental mental illness is associated with increased risk of injuries among children up to 17 years of age, with the risks peaking during the first year of life, finds a study published by The BMJ on April 8, 2020.

It is the largest analysis of its kind to date, and shows that the risk of injury was slightly higher for children exposed to a mother’s (maternal) mental illness than to a father’s (paternal).