Provider and family beliefs regarding the causes of severe mental illness.

Abstract

The study examined mental health providers' and families' of adults with severe mental illness beliefs regarding the etiology of mental illness. A countywide sample of 87 providers and family members was collected over a course of six months as part of a consensus building process to institute family education. Beliefs regarding the biological basis of mental illness are not replacing family causation beliefs for providers and families. Instead, providers and families hold biological and family causation theories regarding the etiology of mental illness simultaneously. Providers with less family contact were more likely to believe that families may cause mental illness, when controlling for race, gender, education, and years working in mental health. Families with negative provider experience are also more likely to hold family causation beliefs, when controlling for race, gender, and education. Further research is needed to explore the effects of provider and family beliefs regarding the etiology of mental illness on provider-family contact and collaboration.