Abstract
BackgroundCaring for individuals with schizophrenia can create distress for caregivers which can, in turn, have a harmful impact on patient progress. There could be a better understanding of the connections between caregivers’ representations of schizophrenia and coping styles. This study aims at exploring those connections.MethodsThis correlational descriptive study was conducted with 92 caregivers of individuals suffering from schizophrenia. The participants completed three questionnaires translated and validated in French: (a) a socio-demographic questionnaire, (b) the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia and (c) the Family Coping Questionnaire.ResultsOur results show that illness representations are slightly correlated with coping styles. More specifically, emotional representations are correlated to an emotion-focused coping style centred on coercion, avoidance and resignation.ConclusionOur results are coherent with the Commonsense Model of Self-Regulation of Health and Illness and should enable to develop new interventions for caregivers.
Highlights
Caring for individuals with schizophrenia can create distress for caregivers which can, in turn, have a harmful impact on patient progress
Distress experienced by caregivers is correlated with illness representations such as the following: (1) illness outbreaks are chronic, (2) the feeling that treatment does not help control the illness, (3) the perception that the patient can have greater personal control over the illness, (4) the perception that the illness brings about negative consequences for the patient and (5) that the illness brings about negative consequences for the caregiver and (6) representations that the illness elicits painful emotions such as anxiety and fear [4,5,8]
Coping strategies by caregivers of patients with schizophrenia have been explored by several authors who mainly based their observations using models or frameworks derived from Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of stress coping [9,10,11,12]
Summary
Caring for individuals with schizophrenia can create distress for caregivers which can, in turn, have a harmful impact on patient progress. The decreased length of stay in hospital and restrictions on involuntary treatments mean that family-based caregivers provide an important support during periods of psychological instability. This support implies that caregivers rely on a variety of strategies to confront the consequences resulting from the psychological instability of the schizophrenia patient. Coping strategies by caregivers of patients with schizophrenia have been explored by several authors who mainly based their observations using models or frameworks derived from Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of stress coping [9,10,11,12]. For caregivers, strategies like coercion, avoidance and resignation are associated with suffering and patient relapse [13,14]
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