Well Being, Depressive Symptoms, and Burden Among Parent and Sibling Caregivers of Persons With Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

Abstract

Caregiving for a family member with severe and persistent mental illness places significant demands on the caregiver. Yet caregivers also report personal rewards from the experience. Multiple regression analyses were conducted for 137 parent and sibling caregivers to compare risk and protective factors for well being, subjective burden, and depressive symptoms among respondents. Sibling status predicted increased well-being. 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, and 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.

Keywords:

• caregiving
• person with severe mental illness
• well-being
• subjective burden

Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to Dr. Elmer Struening at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute Epidemiology of Mental Disorders Research Department, for his generosity in providing the Family Impact Study data for this research.