| Summary: | Abstract The association between parental somatic illnesses and offspring outcomes is not clear. Identifying the specific parental somatic illnesses that confer offspring psychopathology risk has the potential to facilitate of more effective targeted interventions to help offspring at risk. The aim of this thesis was to examine the association between various parental hospital-treated somatic illness groups during offspring’s childhood and later behavioural and emotional symptoms and prodromal symptoms of psychosis among offspring in adolescence. The thesis also examines the association between parental traumatic brain injury and offspring’s use of specialized psychiatric services and psychiatric morbidity. The study methodology is an epidemiological register and questionnaire study with two unselected population-based birth cohorts: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort (n=9432) and the 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort (n=59476), used separately according to publications. In the eight-year follow-up period (ages from 7–8 to 15–16) more than half (55%) of offspring had a parent with a somatic illness. Maternal endocrine and metabolic diseases, respiratory diseases and diagnoses of external causes were associated with lower behavioural and emotional symptoms among male offspring than in the control group. Paternal neoplasms were associated with lower behavioural and emotional symptoms among male offspring than in the control group. Yet, maternal musculoskeletal disorders were associated with elevated prodromal symptoms of psychosis among male offspring. Offspring affected by parental traumatic brain injury were at increased risk for psychiatric disorders and use of specialized psychiatric services. Parental somatic illnesses are present for a substantial proportion of the population and they have a noteworthy, yet complex association with offspring’s mental health. With some of the parental illness groups, examples of possible resilience in offspring, in terms of lower psychological symptoms in offspring, were present. ...
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