How Caregivers Make Meaning of Child Mental Health Problems: Toward Understanding Caregiver Strain and Help Seeking.
Family caregivers' conceptualizations of their child's emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) influence help-seeking for the child and caregiver strain. We analyzed 21 interviews with caregivers to explore their conceptualizations about the cause of their child's EBP, their experiences of strain, and their reported help-seeking behaviors. Caregivers had divergent conceptualizations of their child's EBP: 12 caregivers viewed the EBP as caused by a disorder and described the onset of symptoms as the central stressful event, whereas 9 caregivers described their child's problems as a response to an earlier stressor (e.g. trauma, abuse, divorce). Different patterns of caregiver strain and help-seeking were associated with caregiver conceptualization. All caregivers voiced a need for peer-to-peer support for caregivers and youth with EBP.
Division of General Internal Medicine & Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1215 Twenty-First Ave South Ste 6000, MCE - North Tower Nashville, TN 37232-8300.
Lindsay S
LS
Mayberry
Human & Organizational Development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Craig Anne
CA
Heflinger