title: The Relationship Between the Perceived Risk of Harm by a Family Member with Mental Illness and the Family Experience.
abstract: Family members of people with serious mental illness (SMI) at times report that they act to stop their ill relative from self harm or harming others. This study examines the relationship between the perception of risk of harm and family distress, burden, empowerment, coping, physical and mental health, appraisal of the caregiving experience, family communication, and family functioning. The study is a secondary analysis of baseline data collected for a randomized study of the family-to-family peer driven education program (FTF). Four hundred thirty-four enrolled individuals who were seeking to participate in FTF completed survey items that asked if they had tried to stop or prevent their ill family member from harming themselves or others in the last 30 days. Participants who perceived a recent risk of harm by their ill relative reported more negative appraisals of caregiving, greater psychological distress, poorer mental health and greater objective burden compared with those who did not perceive a recent risk of harm. The results suggest that families of persons with SMI should be asked about perceived risk of harm to self and others, and the presence of perceived risk of harm should serve as a red flag indicating the need for further evaluation of the family experience and additional support for the family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland School of Medicine, 737 West Lombard St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Medoff
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland School of Medicine, 737 West Lombard St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Li Juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Medical Center, Room 2702, 1051 Riverside Drive, Box 100, New York, NY, 10032, USA. DixonLi@nyspi.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Lisa B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011209:Power, Psychological; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Burden; Distress; Family; Harm; Severe mental illness; Suicide; Violence