Hur kan barn trots svåra uppväxtförhållanden erhålla god psykosocial funktion? : En innehållsanalys av vuxna barns upplevelser av att växa upp med en förälder med psykisk ohälsa.

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the coping strategies and emotional expressions that children experience while growing up with a parent with mental illness. The theory used in this study was emotion sociology and the concept of resilience is applied in the results and analysis to explain and understand how children’s actions and emotional expressions are related. In this way, the study can contribute with knowledge about how children, despite growing up conditions that may involve risks, can obtain a good psychosocial function. Our study was based on a qualitative method where four autobiographies written by adult children have been used as empirical data. In order to describe and analyze the coping strategies and emotional expressions that children experience while growing up with a parent with mental illness. The results show that anxiety, fear, longing for affection and unpredictability in the parent’s behaviour were common feelings among the authors. The authors developed strategies during their childhood and had the ability to adapt successfully even though they grew up in a risky home environment.