Discussion
This study was limited to parents whose off-spring was
participating in a psychotherapy for young people with
bipolar disorder trial and for this reason it may not be
representative of a wider group of parents. It also only
includes responses from parents still engaged with their
child and it has been noted that many young people can
M. Crowe et al.
346 © 2011 Blackwell Publishing
become estranged from family. Another limitation relates
to the use of written responses rather than interviews. The
use of written responses does not provide as full an account
as could be obtained from interviews and is also limited to
parents’ literacy levels.