Cognitive performance in offspring of parents with severe mental illness: a meta-analysis

Akilew A Adane; Abel Dadi; Alemken Jegnie; Abay W Tadesse; Biruk Beletew Abate; Carrington C J Shepherd; Berihun Dachew

doi:10.1017/S0033291726103985

Back

Cognitive performance in offspring of parents with severe mental illness: a meta-analysis

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Cognitive performance in offspring of parents with severe mental illness: a meta-analysis

Akilew A Adane, Abel Dadi, Alemken Jegnie, Abay W Tadesse, Biruk Beletew Abate, Carrington C J Shepherd and Berihun Dachew

Psychological medicine, Vol.56, e115

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291726103985

PMID: 42037487

Files and links (1)

pdf

offspring1.44 MBDownload View

Open Access CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Academic Performance

Bipolar Disorder

Child

Child of Impaired Parents - psychology

Child of Impaired Parents - statistics & numerical data

Cognition

Executive Function

Female

Humans

Major Depressive Disorder

Mental Disorders - psychology

Schizophrenia

Parental severe mental illnesses (SMIs), including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder (MDD), can impact children's well-being, yet existing meta-analyses are limited in scope and methodology and do not comprehensively assess cognitive and academic performance in offspring across SMIs. This meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the existing evidence on the association between parental SMIs and offspring cognitive and academic performance. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched from their inception to December 2025. We included studies assessing associations between parental SMIs and offspring cognitive/academic performance at any age, including attention, memory, language, executive function, processing speed, IQ, social cognition, and academic performance. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) between offspring of parents with SMIs and controls were calculated. Differences in cognitive performance between affected offspring and controls were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses, with robust variance estimation. The meta-analysis included 109 studies (1,586,339 participants). Parental schizophrenia was strongly associated with several cognitive domains, including general cognition (SMD = -1.07, 95% CI: -1.92, -0.22), language (-0.70; -1.20, -0.20), and IQ (-0.53; -0.72, -0.34). Parental bipolar disorder was associated with general cognition (SMD = -0.45, 95% CI = -0.79, -0.12), memory (-0.40; -0.60, -0.19), executive function (-0.34; -0.51, -0.16), IQ (-0.32; -0.48, -0.17), and language (-0.18, 95% CI -0.34, -0.02). Parental MDD showed weaker but statistically significant associations with executive function, general cognition, and language development. Children of parents with SMIs, particularly schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, are at increased risk of cognitive difficulties. Population-level early intervention strategies targeting these families may improve offspring's cognitive performance.

Details

Title: Cognitive performance in offspring of parents with severe mental illness: a meta-analysis
Authors/Creators: Akilew A Adane - Murdoch University, Ngangk Yira Institute for Change
Abel Dadi - Addis Continental Institute of Public Health
Alemken Jegnie - The University of Western Australia
Abay W Tadesse - Curtin University
Biruk Beletew Abate - Curtin University
Carrington C J Shepherd - Curtin University
Berihun Dachew - Curtin University
Publication Details: Psychological medicine, Vol.56, e115
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Number of pages: 13
Identifiers: 991005879654107891
Murdoch Affiliation: Ngangk Yira Institute for Change
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: SDGs in the Output

Metrics

2 Record Views