Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Well being, depressive symptoms, and burden among parent and sibling caregivers of persons with severe and persistent mental illness
- Authors:
- CHEN Wan-Yi, LUKENS Ellen
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 9(1-6), 2011, pp.397-416.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Caregiving for a family member with severe and persistent mental illness is associated with exhaustion, distress, depression and burden. Yet caregivers may also report personal rewards from the experience. The aim of this article is to examine the impact of a common set of risk and protective factors that contribute to functional and dysfunctional forms of emotional response among parent and sibling caregivers. The study used data from the 1992-1993 Family Impact Study for a sample of 137 parent and sibling caregivers. Multiple regression analyses compared risk and protective factors for well-being, subjective burden, and depressive symptoms among the participants. The findings showed that siblings reported greater well-being than parents. Grief and family stress functioned as risk factors for decreased well-being, more depressive symptoms, and increased subjective burden. Pride for the relative contributed to depressive symptoms but protected against burden. Both informal social support and formal support from providers offered a buffer against depressive symptoms for all caregivers. Intervention strategies to promote resilience and address challenges for caregivers are discussed.