What happens to children who grow up with mental illness in the family?

What can help children who grow up in families where mental illness is part of everyday life?

This project follows children over time to understand what increases the risk of mental health problems—and what can protect against them. The focus is on children where one or both parents have a mental illness.

Some of the children are offered a preventive programme, while others are followed without intervention. This allows researchers to identify what actually makes a difference—and how best to support children early on.

The study tracks the children over several years, offering a unique insight into how mental health develops over time.

The programme forms the first phase of the study Identifying Risk and Resilience for Mental Illness during Childhood and Adolescence (IRMA).

The ambition is to generate better knowledge on how to strengthen children in vulnerable situations—before problems have the chance to grow.