Table 2 Overview of research questions and main themes

1. What are parents’ experiences with regard to their own depressive and anxiety disorders and their children’s vulnerability and resilience?

- Impact on Quality of Life (QoL) of the children

- Parental concerns about the mental health status of children

2. What are parents’ experiences with regard to their own depressive and anxiety disorders and parenting?

- Impact on family QoL

- Communication about parental illness

3. What are parents’ experiences with help for their children and is there a need for help (e.g. preventive interventions)?

- Lack of focus on children in parental treatment

- Parental perspectives on the need for professional help for children

4. What are parents’ reasons for (not) participating in a prevention study with their children?

- Reasons for not participating: parental overburden, child burden, child refuses to participate, stigma, shame, no worry about children

- Reasons for participating: need for prevention, helping others, importance of research, child likes to participate

5. What are parents’ experiences and advice with regard to participation in a prevention study?

- Positive experiences: personal information from therapist, ‘depth’ in conversations with offspring

- Negative experiences: too many measurements and questionnaires