Emotional over-involvement can be deleterious for caregivers’ health

Abstract

In a sample of 37 Mexican American caregivers and their ill relatives recruited from two outpatient clinics, we examined the relationships between EOI, caregiver burden, caregivers' level of social support, and caregivers' health. Additionally, we examined whether caregiver burden and social support may mediate the relationship between EOI and caregivers' health. Cross-sectional analysis indicates that at baseline EOI was not associated with caregiver burden or social support, but was related to worse current health. Longitudinal analysis, however, indicates that EOI at baseline was associated with greater burden, less instrumental support, and worse health among caregivers at follow-up. Moreover, objective burden and instrumental support mediated the relationship between EOI and several health outcomes. Consequently, EOI may be a marker of poor current health status and predicts worse future health among Mexican-American caregiving relatives of individuals with schizophrenia. Moreover, changes in burden and social support associated with EOI appear to mediate the relationship between EOI and several health outcomes among caregivers. These findings suggest that it might be important for family interventions to not only address the functioning of individuals with schizophrenia but also their caregiving relatives.

Expressed emotion and depression in caregivers of older adults with dementia: results from Taiwan

“…There have been many studies on both the relationship between EE and depression in patients (Hayhurst, Cooper, Paykel, Vearnals, & Ramana, 1997;Hinrichsen, Adelstein & Mcmeniman, 2004;Silk et al, 2009) and the association between EE and the caregivers' health among patients with schizophrenia (Breitborde et al, 2009;Breitborde, L opez, & Kopelowicz, 2010). A number of studies have also found that EE in caregivers of dementia patients was related to caregivers' strain and distress (Bledin, MacCarthy, Kuipers, & Woods, 1990), burden (Nomura et al, 2005;Vitaliano, Russo, Young, Teri, & Maiuro, 1991), and psychological well-being (Gilhooly & Whittick, 1989).…”

Reported family burden of schizophrenia patients in rural China

“…As for social psychological factors, social support, family function, and family coping have been the most reported significant factors predicting family burden, with consistent evidence showing that better social support[4, 33–36], higher level of family function [37–39], as well as positive coping styles [20, 40] were associated with decreased family burden.…”

Outcomes of a Family Peer Education Program for Families of Youth and Adults with Mental Illness

“…Within a large sample of prospective FTF participants at entry to the program, parents of youth (18 years and younger) with mental illness reported more problems with their child’s difficult behaviors, greater concern with youth’s dependency on parents to coordinate care and support daily living, greater concern with the effect of mental illness on their families, and higher levels of stigma, anxiety, and depression relative to parents of adults (19 years and older) with mental illness [21]. Caregiving obligations, perceptions of burden, and fragmentation of youth service systems for family members of youth with mental illness may leave them more vulnerable to mental and physical health concerns of their own, and less equipped to play an optimally supportive role in their children’s treatment and recovery [22–25]. …”