Distress in Caregivers of a Family Member With Serious Mental Illness

It is well documented that mental illness influences not only the person diagnosed but also the family. The following study explored distress in 169 caregivers of a family member with serious mental illness (SMI). Factors such as time spent caregiving, type of familial relationship, mental health treatment, and income were explored as they associated to caregiver depression and family discord. Regression models suggested that caregiving for a son or daughter or devoting 20 hr a week or less to caregiving was associated with lower distress levels. Higher numbers of difficult behaviors exhibited by the person diagnosed were associated with higher family discord. The Mental Illness Distress Scale demonstrated some capacity to measure distress related to having a family member with SMI.