Abstract
Despite its status as a Nordic welfare state, Finland demonstrates limited awareness, lacks policies, and provides underdeveloped services for children growing up with parents affected by mental and physical illnesses or substance abuse. This gap in support poses serious risks to children’s mental health and life trajectories, as highlighted by recent epidemiological studies on Finnish register data. Although efforts by Finnish non-governmental and children’s welfare organizations have started to raise awareness and advocate for statutory action, Finnish support systems remain largely unresponsive to the needs of this vulnerable group. As Finland lags in providing adequate preventive measures and support, further research on these children and adolescents’ experiences is required to guide the development of services.
This study examines reflections of Finnish adults who, as children, grew up with a parent experiencing mental illness, substance dependency, or chronic physical illness or injury. The study explores their retrospective accounts of both formal and informal support received during childhood. By focusing on these adults’ narratives, the study seeks to elucidate how these individuals interpret the interactions they had with professionals, institutions, and informal social networks. In doing so, it deepens our understanding of the long-term impact of these support experiences and to identify both the gaps and possibilities in Finnish support systems for children affected by parental illness.
Data consists of biographical interviews (N=29) conducted from 2021 to 2024 with adults who experienced parental illness during their upbringing. Prior research indicates that many individuals recognize the vulnerability of their childhood environments only in hindsight. As adults, they can morally evaluate perceived responsibilities, obligations, and intentions in significant past events, with time enabling them to reconstruct and assign meaning to these experiences. The analysis focuses on participants’ accounts of ‘critical episodes’ within their biographical narratives, specifically emphasizing two types of experiences: (1) moments of receiving support, and (2) instances where support was expected but either insufficient or absent, failing to meet the narrators’ needs or expectations. These critical episodes emerge as pivotal experiences carrying meaning for the participants in their present-day lives. Analyzing these episodes sheds light on how these episodes influenced their immediate and enduring experiences of support.
The study’s findings are discussed through a socioecological framework that conceptualizes participants’ experiences within relational, institutional, structural, and cultural contexts. The results reveal deficiencies in formal and informal support across various levels but also highlight encounters and environments with potential that, if systematically supported, could enhance the well-being of children as next of kin. The framework emphasizes the intersections of these contexts, illustrating how they contribute to or detract from a supportive environment for children facing the challenges of parental illness. By holistically analyzing the sources of and gaps in psychosocial support, this study highlights the importance of creating an integrative, child-centered approach to support within a society. This analysis provides insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers seeking to understand and improve support systems for children as next of kin.