Table 3 Parental symptoms influencing family Quality of Life

Fatigue

#10 “I was in bed a lot … Then they came home from school and their mum was in bed again, so that wasn’t very nice. Because I was just so very tired, above all.”

#4 “The only thing she (daughter) said was: ‘Mum is in bed more often’.”

Withdrawal

#9 “… That he (father) didn’t come along and was always sitting on the couch and didn’t want anything… They (children) do find that very annoying.”

Irritability

#24 “then he [father] doesn’t feel well, then he doesn’t feel happy and then he’s simply more sensitive and then he’s quicker angry at the children while he normally isn’t quick to be angry at the kids.”

#19 “Well, conflict more than anything. I was easily irritated. As much by my partner and as by my kid. Luckily, I reacted as little as possible to my kid. She can’t do anything about it, but unfortunately she still got some of it. Well, you can’t avoid that. You want to but it doesn’t work.”

Sadness

#10 “We laugh too little. It is a sort of serious family.”

Anxiety

#17 “Like the other day, there was another disco at school, and well, then I start calling. That’s how she (daughter) notices. Then she missed like a hundred calls and they’re all mine. And then she thinks like ‘damn I should ‘ve called my mother.”