STRESS AND FAMILY SUPPORT AS PREDICTORS OF DISTRESS AND REJECTION IN PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR A RELATIVE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Relatives (N = 121) of adult schizophrenia patients were interviewed t o investigate predictors of their level of psychological distress and of rejecting attitudes toward the sufferer. The relatives' total stres s, particularly that associated with poor communication skills in the sufferer, predicted several measures of their psychological distress, and the same variables plus turbulence of sufferer behavior (i.e., vio lence and disruptiveness) predicted rejection o of the sufferer by the relative. In each case, adequacy of family support moderated the infl uence of the stressors, although this effect was more marked for distr ess outcomes than for rejection. The results have important implicatio ns for the sorts of professional and peer support which relatives may need to encourage their performance of this potentially burdensome rol e. In addition, the results fit a classic stress management model and provide a feasible alternative to the Expressed Emotion Model of the r elationship between relatives' rejection and patients' illness severit y.