title: The Friedrich-Lively Instrument to Assess the Impact of Schizophrenia on Siblings (FLIISS): Part I--instrument construction.
abstract: Siblings of persons with schizophrenia may provide primary or secondary care for their sibling and support to parents who are primary care givers. These siblings experience stress and the accompanying sequelae of decreased quality of life, grief, chronic illness, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Comprehensive measures of sibling stress have not been published. Before interventions to help siblings can be created, health professionals need such an assessment. The Friedrich-Lively Instrument to Assess the Impact of Schizophrenia on Siblings (FLIISS) has been developed to meet the needs of both health workers and siblings. The instrument has a strong conceptual basis adapted from Pearlin's model of stress in caregiving and was preceded by pilot work that evaluated both quantitative and qualitative data. In this article, (Part I), the development of the instrument and its relationships to the conceptual model are described. Health professionals can use the instrument for collecting information that will increase their ability to identify sources of stress faced by siblings of persons with schizophrenia, and from this assessment they may develop interventions for this underserved population.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1121, USA. rose-friedrich@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Rose Marie
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lively
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rubenstein
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Buckwalter
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000451:nursing*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012801:Sibling Relations; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis*