DETERMINANTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN RELATIVES OF PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC-SCHIZOPHRENIA

Research shows that the relatives of people with chronic schizophrenia suffer psychological distress and interference in daily life from the burdens of caregiving. In this study, members of a self-help group fo r the relatives of schizophrenia sufferers provided information throug h a mail survey, using standardized measures of psychological distress and burden, and severity of the sufferer's illness. Caregiver psychol ogical distress was high compared with test norms, and the level of be havioral disturbance in the sufferer was found to contribute to caregi ver distress after controlling for the caregiver's age, sex, and socia l supports. An unexpected finding was that those caring for female suf ferers reported greater distress than those caring for males.