BURDEN AND WELL-BEING OF CAREGIVERS FOR THE SEVERELY MENTALLY-ILL - THE ROLE OF COPING STYLE AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

Caregivers of persons with severe mental illness often experience a si gnificant burden in coping with patients' symptoms. Several factors ha ve been hypothesized to mediate the impact of caring for a mentally il l relative, including cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and soci al support. The present study examined the relationships between these factors, and subjective burden and well-being in caregivers of person s with a severe mental illness. Higher levels of subjective burden wer e related to (1) greater perceived frequency of positive and negative symptom behaviors, (2) a tendency to use problem-focused oriented copi ng for dealing with negative symptom behaviors, and (3) a tendency not to use problem-solving oriented coping for dealing with positive symp tom behaviors. Well-being was also related to lower perceived frequenc y of positive symptom behaviors and social support, but not to coping style. The implications of the findings for interventions designed to reduce caregiver subjective burden are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.