Personal stigma and coping strategies in families of patients with schizophrenia: Comparison between Japan and Korea

Abstract

Introduction: It has been extensively documented that caregivers of persons who have serious and persistent mental disorders must successfully cope with many challenging problems in order to provide good care. However, little is known about the relationship between family stigma and strategies for coping with patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, the present study compared the personal stigma and coping strategies of families of patients with schizophrenia by examining the socio‐cultural factors that affect the care experience of families in Northeast Asian countries. Methods: Two self‐rating scales were used to compare personal stigma and coping strategies regarding family members of patients with schizophrenia in 47 Japanese and 92 Korean families. Respondents reported their personal attitudes (personal stigma) with respect to a case vignette that described a person with chronic schizophrenia. Results: Analysis revealed the following: 1) although no differences in coping strategies were observed between the countries, the personal stigma of families was significantly higher in Korea than in Japan; 2) coping strategies, such as positive communication, coercion, and avoidance, were significantly associated with personal stigma in Korean families; however, in Japanese families, resignation was significantly associated with personal stigma. Discussion: The present findings suggest that personal family stigma was higher in Korea than Japan, and the features associated with coping strategies differ between countries. It is important to determine the features of personal stigma that are associated with schizophrenia. Furthermore, education and support programs for families with schizophrenia based on trans‐cultural considerations must be emphasized in both countries.

Relationship between Mental Health and Burden among Primary Caregivers of Outpatients with Schizophrenia

“…In line with expectations, greater levels of caregiver burden were In line with diathesis-stress model, our results indicate that personality traits and coping style (diathesis) influenced the relationship between caregiver burden (stress) and mental health in this sample. Regardless of extraversion/introversion personality traits, primary caregivers may feel trapped and embarrassed and avoid disclosing their concerns or seeking help (Hanzawa et al, 2010;Hsiao & Tsai, 2015). This study shows that extraversion/introversion and psychoticism personality traits have no direct effect on caregiver burden, but have a direct effect on family functioning, perhaps because psychoticism personality traits render a person self-centered, indifferent, and lacking interpersonal empathy (Eysenck, 1992).…”

Correlates of affiliate stigma among family caregivers of people with mental illness: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Table presents the characteristics of the eligible studies. All these studies were published between 1994 and 2017 and conducted in the United States (Bassirnia et al., ; Biegel, Milligan, Putnam, & Song, ; Greenberg, Kim, & Greenley, ), Hong Kong (Chen et al., ; Mak & Cheung, , ), Taiwan (Chang, Yen, Jang, Su, & Lin, ; Chang et al., ; Wu & Chen, ), UK (Kingston, Onwumere, Keen, Ruffell, & Kuipers, ; Whitney, Haigh, Weinman, & Treasure, ), India (Koschorke, Thornicroft, Thara, Balaji, & Patel, ; Singh, Mattoo, & Grover, ), Israel (Hasson‐Ohayon, Levy, Kravetz, Vollanski‐Narkis, & Roe, ), Sri Lanka (Fernando, Deane, & McLeod, ; Fernando, Deane, McLeod, et al., ), Ethiopia (Girma et al., ; Weldeslasie Hailemariam, ), Turkey and Brazil (Ferreira de Araujo Jorge & Chaves, ), Portugal (Gonçalves‐Pereira et al., ), and Japan and Korea (Hanzawa et al., , ). All studies were cross‐sectional, except for one follow‐up study.…”

Factors of caregiver burden and family functioning among Taiwanese family caregivers living with schizophrenia

“…In Asian cultures, stigma attached to mental illness and in particular, schizophrenia as a source of shame remains salient (Yang , Hanzawa et al . ). It is evident that persons with schizophrenia pose a high risk of suicide, particularly those who have previously had suicidality (Hor & Taylor ).…”