Fathers with severe mental illness: Characteristics and comparisons

Among patients with severe mental illness attending a large, urban, outpati ent mental health clinic, fathers are described and compared with nonfather s and with mothers on demographic, clinical, and child-related characterist ics and on resources and service needs. While fathers and nonfathers with m ental illness differed significantly on most variables, fathers and mothers with mental illness were remarkably similar except on child-related charac teristics. Issues regarding fathers' experiences and service needs are disc ussed.