Navigating peer relationships: What do friendships look like for children whose parents have mental illnesses?

Peer support programmes among children whose parents have mental illnesses have rarely focused on how these children relate with peers in the general population. Therefore, this phenomenological study in Ghana involved interviews with 13 children (ages 10 to 17) living with parental mental illness to learn about their peer relationships. Data were analysed to identify the phenomenon's essential features and constituents. The study finds that peer relations entail secrecy, peer victimisation and abuse. To these children, keeping secrets about parental mental illness ensures they have 'normal' peer relationships like others, as troubled peer relationships can develop when peers are informed about the parents' mental illness. Name-calling, teasing and withdrawal persists when peers are aware of one's parental mental illness. Although the children perceive that they may find comfort in children who are in a similar situation, the pros and cons of developing peer support out of these in-groups have to be verified rather than assumed. It is recommended that helping professionals educate school children and address myths they have about mental illness and its impact on their relationships.