Hope and Burden among Latino Families of Adults with Schizophrenia

Abstract

This study examined hope and family burden among Latino families of individuals with schizophrenia. The sample consisted of 54 family members, one family member per outpatient adult recruited from public mental health programs in a diverse urban community. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis that the family member’s increased hope for the patient’s future would be associated with decreased family burden beyond effects explained by the patient’s length of illness and severity of symptoms. Results supported the study hypothesis. Family hope for the patient’s future was associated with four of five types of family burden. Findings point to the prominent role of hope as a source of resilience for Latino families dealing with severe mental illness of a loved one.

Perceptions of Subjective Burden Among Latino Families Caring for a Loved One with Schizophrenia

“…As reported elsewhere (Barrio & Yamada, 2010; Hernandez et al, 2013), data were collected by trained bilingual–bicultural interviewers in each participant’s preferred language. Most family member interviews were conducted in Spanish ( n = 57, 89%).…”

“…These appraisals are highly related to cultural beliefs regarding the caregiving role, responsibilities, and use of coping mechanisms (Barrio, Hernandez, & Barragán, 2011; Guarnaccia, Parra, Deschamps, Milstein, & Argiles, 1992; Jenkins & Schumacher, 1999; Saldaña, Dassori, & Miller, 1999). For instance, Latino families often report low levels of burden, as evidenced in a study examining hope and objective burden among low-acculturated family members caring for a loved one with schizophrenia that found family members generally reported low levels of objective burden despite probable caregiving strain (Hernandez, Barrio, & Yamada, 2013). Moreover, Latino families are frequently characterized as close knit and supportive—values exemplified in collectivist cultures (Barrio, 2000).…”

Resilience in the Context of Informal Caregiving: A Scoping Study

“…Resilience in caregiving is influenced by socioenvironmental factors such as access to social networks, education/knowledge/awareness, employment status, geographic location of residence, housing status and life-course stage (Giesbrecht et al, 2015;Ruiz-Robledillo et al, 2014). Additionally, the individual, family, and socio-environmental factors that contribute to resilience are cultural dependent (Hernandez, Barrio, & Yamada, 2013).…”

“…Similarly, resilience was considered as an influencing factor related to outcomes in four qualitative studies. Studies examining the effect of a reduction of negative health outcomes in resilience included the following dependent variables: parental distress (Lamis, Wilson, Tarantino, Lansford, & Kaslow, 2014); burden (Chappell & Dujela, 2008;Hernandez et al, 2013;Simpson & Jones, 2013;Yeh & Bull, 2012); depression (Fraser & Pakenham, 2009;O'Rourke et al, 2010); emotional/behavioral difficulties (Fraser & Pakenham, 2009); being overweight (Lim et al, 2011); perceived stress (Cassidy, 2013;Chappell & Dujela, 2008;Ruiz-Robledillo et al, 2014); institutionalization for dementia care (Gaugler et al, 2007); caregiver anxiety (Nabors et al, 2013); and suicidal thoughts (O'Dwyer, Moyle, & van Wyk, 2013). Studies that examined the effect of enhancing positive outcomes on resilience framed independent variables as benefit finding (Cassidy, 2013;Cassidy et al, 2014); life satisfaction (Cassidy et al, 2014;Chappell & Dujela, 2008;Fraser & Pakenham, 2009); positive mental health (Cassidy et al, 2014); positive affect (Simpson & Jones, 2013); and adolescent adjustment (Shin et al, 2010).…”

“…Resilience (viewed as a way of coping with and adapting to stress) was positively correlated with high levels of social interaction and social support (Ruiz-Robledillo et al, 2014). Resilience defined in terms of ability to see beyond an immediate stressful experience, and in that context high levels of hopefulness relate to this ability (Hernandez et al, 2013). Resilience was correlated with benefit finding (Cassidy, 2013;Cassidy et al, 2014), positive affect (Simpson & Jones, 2013), and optimism, and self-efficacy (Cassidy, 2013).…”