Factors related to physical violence experienced by parents of persons with schizophrenia in Japan

Abstract

Most violence by patients with mental illness is perpetuated against family members rather than the general public. However, there is insufficient research to reach a consensus on factors related to family violence for this population. Thus, the current study aimed to clarify factors related to physical violence by patients with schizophrenia towards their parents in Japan. A self-administrated survey was distributed through family groups to families with a relative with a psychiatric disorder. Questionnaires completed by 400 parents of patients with schizophrenia were analyzed. Of the 400 parents, almost two-thirds experienced "no physical violence" and close to one-third experienced "physical violence" during the past year. Results of a mixed-effects logistic regression revealed that physical violence was significantly related to the patients' gender (female rather than male), multiple patient hospitalizations (3 or more times as compared to never hospitalized), low annual household income (less than US$20K as compared to over US$40K), and higher hostility and criticism of family interactions. Family violence maybe reduced through education on communication strategies for both parents and patients.

The last taboo: The experience of violence in first‐episode psychosis caregiving relationships

“…The results linking FEP carers' exposure to patient violence to subjective reports of emotional burden and exhaustion, difficulties in the caregiving relationship, and stigma were consistent with existing literature (Kageyama et al, 2016;Vaddadi et al 2002;Onwumere et al, 2014;Torrey, 2011). Some participants highlighted having reached their coping limit, of not feeling able to take on any more, feeling exhausted, and unable to think clearly.…”

“…The results linking FEP carers’ exposure to patient violence to subjective reports of emotional burden and exhaustion, difficulties in the caregiving relationship, and stigma were consistent with existing literature (Kageyama et al ., ; Vaddadi et al . ; Onwumere et al ., ; Torrey, ).…”

“…Carers of people with psychosis experience a significant impact of care (Gupta, Isherwood, Jones, & Van Impe, 2015;Sadath, Muralidhar, Varambally, Gangadhar, & Rose, 2017), which carries considerable implications for their coping efforts, quality of caregiving relationship, and illness outcomes (Kuipers, Onwumere, & Bebbington, 2010). Lifetime rates of patient violence towards caregivers has been estimated in some studies at 50-60% (e.g., Kageyama et al, 2015;Onwumere et al, 2014), and approximately one-third of carers report incidents of violence in the preceding year (Kageyama et al, 2016;Wing-Yum Chan, 2008). Recent data suggest that 40% of FEP patients had been physically abusive towards their parents in the 2 months prior to first presentation (Fawzi et al, 2013).…”

Informal Caregiving Relationships in Psychosis: Reviewing the Impact of Patient Violence on Caregivers

“…The cited studies were international including six from Asia (Gopinath and Chaturvedi, 1992 ; Hanzawa et al, 2013 ; Hsu and Tu, 2013 ; Chaturvedi et al, 2014 ; Kageyama et al, 2016 ; Varghese et al, 2016 ); four from the USA (Friedrich et al, 1999 ; O'Brien et al, 2006 ; Thompson, 2007 ; Copeland and Heilemann, 2008 ); three from the United Kingdom (Gibbons et al, 1984 ; Ferriter and Huband, 2003 ; Onwumere et al, 2014 ) and Australia (Vaddadi et al, 1997 , 2002 ; Loughland et al, 2009 ), and two from Sweden (Kjellin and Ostman, 2005 ; Nordström et al, 2006 ). The remaining studies had their origin in Canada (Chan, 2008 ) and Switzerland (Lauber et al, 2003 ).…”

“…Only 65% ( n = 13) of studies offered details on the mean age of carer participants. Where details were offered, carer participants were aged mainly in their early to mid-50s (Vaddadi et al, 2002 ; Thompson, 2007 ; Chan, 2008 ; Loughland et al, 2009 ; Hanzawa et al, 2013 ; Onwumere et al, 2014 ) or 60s (Ferriter and Huband, 2003 ; Lauber et al, 2003 ; Kageyama et al, 2016 ). There were, however, carer participants who were notably younger with their mean ages falling in the mid-30s (Friedrich et al, 1999 ; Hsu and Tu, 2013 ) and 40s (Vaddadi et al, 1997 ; Varghese et al, 2016 ).…”