ABSTRACT
Warmth, nurturance, and provision of developmentally appropriate and consistent supervision, structure, and autonomy are the universal hallmarks of good parenting, from infancy through adolescence. Yet, the specific challenges and focal issues of parenting are closely linked to the particulars of the child's developmental phase, the sociocultural context within which parenting is embedded, and attributes of the parents, including their mental health. This chapter focuses on parenting among North American mothers with a long-term, serious mental illness–unipolar or bipolar affective disorder or schizophrenia. It describes what is known about the parenting of these women, focusing on diagnosis, child characteristics, and other contextual effects. The review focuses on mothers with a mental illness, rather than parents with a mental illness, for several reasons.
