Physical violence experienced and witnessed by siblings of persons with schizophrenia in Japan

Abstract

Violence committed by patients with mental illness is mostly perpetuated against family members, not strangers. The present study aimed to clarify the rate of violence that is experienced and/or witnessed by siblings of patients with schizophrenia and factors related to sibling’s experiencing and/or witnessing violence committed by patients. A self-administered survey was completed by family members of patients with schizophrenia, including siblings. The final sample consisted of 113 siblings. Of the 113 siblings, 52 (46.0%) had experienced and 56 (49.6%) had witnessed physical violence at some point. A logistic regression revealed that siblings tended to experience physical violence by patients with younger age of onset of the disorder. Witnessing physical violence was significantly related to being a female sibling, a male patient, younger age of patient, and younger age of onset of schizophrenia. Crisis intervention and respite services for female siblings in particular need to be developed in Japan.

Keywords:

• Family caregiving
• family violence
• schizophrenia
• severe mental illness
• siblings

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.