Resilient adolescents whose parents have serious affective and other psychiatric disorders: importance of self-understanding and relationships.

Eighteen young men and women whose parents had major affective disorders, often in combination with other serious psychiatric disorders, were selected from a larger sample on the basis of their good behavioral functioning as adolescents at initial assessment. When they were reassessed an average of 2 1/2 years later, 15 of the 18 were still functioning well. Considerable self-understanding, a deep commitment to relationships, and the ability to think and act separately from their parents characterized these young people. Many of them were taking care of their ill parents. The implications of these findings for preventive and clinical intervention are discussed.