Off-Timedness as a Contributor to Subjective Burdens for Parents of Offspring with Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

Life course theory posits the existence of an age-graded timetable that marks when the movement into and out of expected stages should occur (Hagestad & Neugarten, 1985; Marini, 1984; Neugarten & Peterson, 1957). An individual's achievement of events, such as leaving home or bearing children, is evaluated as being on-time if the transition takes place at the culturally determined age, or off-time if one fails to sequence into the next stage at the expected time (Hagestad, 1990; Neugarten, Moore, & Lowe, 1965). The off-time individual may be thought of as lagging behind same-age peers and his or her behavior often is labeled by others as immature or age inappropriate (Lawrence, 1988; Neugarten, 1976; Urdy, 1982). Timing expectations are shared among family members, with parents imparting information to their children as to when transitions should occur (Cohler, 1983; Hagestad & Neugarten, 1985; Plath, 1980). Studies in this area have found that parents have high aspirations for their offsprings' achievement of expected stages, and anticipate their children's successful progression through the life course (Greene & Boxer, 1982; Hagestad, 1986; Howell & Freeze, 1982). Moreover, parents often feel responsible for their children's failures (Pillemer & Suitor, 1991) and express feelings of distress and disappointment when their offspring do not attain normative goals (Ward & Spitze, 1992). This article examines the subjective burdens experienced by parents when their offspring fail to achieve expected life-span goals. Specifically, we explore how the non-normative experience of severe mental illness (Marsh, 1992) may result in an adult child being perceived as off-time and may contribute to parental feelings of emotional distress. In so doing, we discuss the theoretical and empirical relationships between severe mental illness, off-timedness, and subjective burden, and also describe the effect of offspring illness and life history characteristics on these relationships. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Severe Mental Illness and Off-timedness The cyclical nature of severe mental illness limits the individual's ability to meet expected life course transitions, causing the ill person to become off. time (Lefley, 1987; Marsh, 1992). Repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, and dealing with symptoms such as paranoia, depression, and hallucinations, make it difficult for the ill individual to finish college, live independently, and have intimate relationships with others: the illness hinders the successful completion of expected life tasks mastered by same-age peers. Parents may experience feelings of grief and frustration as they watch their ill adult child struggle -- and often fail -- to achieve normative life-span goals (Pickett, Cook, & Solomon, in press). In addition, given that the symptoms of severe mental illness usually do not appear until late adolescence or early adulthood, many ill individuals have been able to accomplish some expected tasks (Marsh, 1992). Parents may continue to hold normative expectations for adult offspring, who, prior to the onset of their psychiatric illness, may have been employed or married. Parental perceptions of off-timedness may reflect the difference between parental expectations for their ill child and the child's actual achievement of life-span goals (Pickett, Cook, & Cohler, 1994). Off-timedness and parental burden. Severe mental illness also necessitates the need for familial support and assistance, and numerous studies have documented the consequences of care-giving for parents of psychiatrically disabled adult children (Cook, Lefley, Pickett, & Cohler, 1994; Cook & Pickett, 1988; Greenberg, Greenley, McKee, Brown, & Griffen-Francell, 1993; Hatfield, 1978; Hatfield & Lefley, 1987; Thompson & Doll, 1982). Regarding is. sues of off-timedness, research has focused on parental anxieties related to normative goals (Hatfield, 1992) and changes in the parents' life course as a result of their offspring's illness (Cohler, Pickett, & Cook, 1991; Cook & Cohler, 1986; Marsh, 1992). …