The Effect of Family Functioning and Family Sense of Competence on People with Mental Illness* Eric D. Johnson** This study examined the relative influences of family functioning (general) and family members ' sense of competence (specific) on the community adaptation of 180 seriously mentally ill adults. Stratified sampling of families allowed for a mix of socioeconomic status and ethnic groups. While both variables were significantly associated with the ill family member's level of adaptation, sense of competence was the more powerful influence. Differences among ethnic and SES groups suggest that this is particularly important for African American families and for the lower-middle class. Key Words: caregiving, coping, ethnicity, family functioning, mental illness. Over the past four decades, the mental health system in the United States has undergone a profound change, generally referred to as (Grob, 1987; Mechanic, 1986). Despite the positive rhetoric of the 1950's and 60's, the realities of deinstitutionalization and community mental health care have turned out to be far different from the original vision (Bachrach, Talbott, & Meyerson, 1987; Freedman & Moran, 1984; Lamb, 1981). Since deinstitutionalization began in this country, families of the seriously mentally ill have been required to assume an increasingly heavy burden of responsibility for the care and management of their mentally ill member (Aviram, 1990; Hatfield & Lefley, 1987). It has been estimated that approximately 40% of those discharged from psychiatric units return to live with family members, and another 30% to 40% are in regular (at least weekly) contact with family members (Goldman, Gattozzi, & Taube, 1981; Manderscheid & Barrett, 1987). Historically, family care of the mentally ill has been limited by several factors, including: lack of adequately funded communitybased programs, the influence of early theories of familial etiology of mental illness, limited information about biological components and medical treatments, and lack of organized support networks to assist families in negotiating for the needs of their mentally ill member (Anderson, Reiss, & Hogarty, 1986; Bernheim & Lehman, 1985; Hatfield & Lefley, 1987). Many writers in the field have called attention to the tremendous impact on the family of caring for a seriously mentally ill member, and the potential of the family system for buffering some of the more deleterious effects of mental illness (Goldstein, 1987; Lefley, 1996; Strachan, 1986; Tessler, Killian, & Gubman, 1987). However, there is relatively little empirical evidence that identifies particular family strengths which can aid in coping with a chronic disability like mental illness (Coyne, 1987; Curran & Cirelli, 1988; Noh & Turner, 1987). This study explored certain features of families of mentally ill people, with regard to family members' ability to help their mentally ill member achieve higher functioning in the community, and to buffer the stressors that might otherwise result in increased symptomatology. The current study assessed the relative influences of family resources (in general) and family assessment (in the specific context) on the adaptation level of the Ill Member (IM). Background Family Etiology and Family Influence During the 1950's, several separate groups of clinicians and researchers focused primarily on the problem of schizophrenia and began to experiment with treatment and research designs in an attempt to isolate singular features of family life, communication, or personality patterns that could be demonstrated to cause schizophrenia and other mental disorders (Bateson, Jackson, Haley, & Weakland, 1956; Jackson, 1960; Lidz & Fleck, 1960; Wynne & Singer, 1963). Largely due to the face validity of the proposed theories, they gained wide acceptance despite their highly speculative nature and the small samples from which they were drawn. …