Personal Loss, Parental Relationships, and Caregiving Intentions among Adult Siblings of Individuals with Mental Illness

Dulek, Erin B.; Russin, Sarah E.; Rudd, Melissa F.; Griffith, Frances J.; Stein, Catherine H.

doi:10.1007/s10826-021-01960-0

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“… Milevsky and Heerwagen’s (2013) study shows that older siblings often feel responsible for their younger siblings and that parents expect them to act as role models, making it difficult for the older sibling to differentiate between the sibling role and the parental role. Siblings’ readiness to take on caregiver roles also depends on their parents’ practical and emotional support ( Dulek et al, 2021 ). Smith et al (2007) , who explored siblings’ future expectations of caregiving for a brother or sister with SMI found that the quality of the relationship during childhood and adolescence, the seriousness of the illness and the geographical proximity of their homes influenced siblings’ expectations of future caregiving tasks.…”

Section: Comprehensive Understanding and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Siblings of persons with SMI perceive high personal losses ( Dulek et al, 2021 ; Leith & Stein, 2012 ; Stein & Wemmerus, 2001 ; Stein et al, 2020 ), even more so than their parents ( Leith & Stein, 2012 ). On the other hand, siblings report more satisfaction with personal experiences and relationships than parents do ( Al-Sawafi et al., 2021 ; Sin et al., 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Filling the Void: The Role of Adult Siblings Caring for a Brother or Sister With Severe Mental Illness

Kitzmüller

Gustin

Kalhovde

2023

Global Qualitative Nursing Research

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Little is known about the role of adult siblings’ caregiver role within the context of mental illness. Therefore, our purpose was to explore how siblings narrate their experiences of being the main caregivers of a brother or sister with severe mental illness and how they cooperate with their ill sibling and their family of origin. We used a narrative hermeneutic approach and performed a secondary analysis of two interviews of siblings derived from a study of peoples’ experiences of hearing voices. The findings illuminate the participants’ multifaceted roles and how differently siblings might deal with the multiple challenges of caring for an ill sibling. The mediating role between their ill sibling and their family of origin to reestablish the broken family bonds was a significant aspect. Nurses’ awareness of the important and multidimensional role of caregiving siblings can improve the provision of family support and promote involvement of siblings in the treatment of an ill family member.

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Section: Comprehensive Understanding and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filling the Void: The Role of Adult Siblings Caring for a Brother or Sister With Severe Mental Illness

Kitzmüller

Gustin

Kalhovde

2023

Global Qualitative Nursing Research

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“…Wolfe et al (2014) conducted a longitudinal study and concluded that sibs-MI have less education and less employment than individuals who have nondisabled siblings. Although no comparison group was assessed to compare feelings of personal loss to siblings of individuals without MI, Dulek et al (2021) found that siblings with low parental support and high levels of perceived personal loss due to MI were less likely to plan to provide support for the individual with MI in the future. Similarly, Smith et al (2007) found that poor sibling relationship quality predicted less willingness to be involved in caregiving in the future, and compared to siblings of individuals with an intellectual disability, sibs-MI reported lower levels of well-being and less close siblings relationships (Bowman et al, 2015; Seltzer et al, 1997).…”

Section: Siblings Of Individuals With Mental Illnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological stress responses to mental illness narratives.

Shivers¹,

Shi-ying²,

Textoris³

2024

Psychology of Popular Media

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As discourse around mental illness (MI) becomes more common in popular media, little is known about stress responses to such depictions. In particular, personal narratives (e.g., first-person accounts) of MI are becoming more prevalent across social media. As individuals access social media at increasing rates, understanding how these accounts may impact individuals' stress responses is important. The current study compared 15 high-salience individuals (siblings of individuals with mental illness; sibs-MI) to 19 low-salience individuals (siblings of individuals without mental illness; sibs-NMI) on skin conductance responses to four audio recordings-two neutral and two describing mental illness experiences. Although there were stimuli effects, with participants exhibiting greater skin conductance responses to the MI stimuli than the neutral stimuli, there were no significant group by stimuli interactions. However, sibs-MI had significantly lower skin conductance response (SCR) rates overall. Additionally, there was a moderate but nonsignificant effect of the type of mental illness narrative for the sibs-MI, who exhibited a higher percentage of time in SCR for the story describing a sibling's suicidal actions than for the story describing personal hospitalization due to MI. The current study provides evidence for physiological stress responses to narratives of MI, with potentially greater responses when the narrative reflects a scenario that is salient to the individual. More research is needed to determine the broad effect of depictions of MI on the population. Public Policy Relevance StatementThe finding that hearing stories of mental illness and suicidality causes stress responses in the body suggests that increased access to these stories through social and traditional media could have negative impacts on individuals. While destigmatizing mental illness and suicidality is important, simultaneous support and understanding of the individuals encountering such stories are needed.

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“…Understanding the ways that EAS appraise their ability to cope with their situation, their level of stress, and their social supports may reveal factors that support emerging adult developmental tasks of autonomous problem‐solving and decision‐making. Dulek et al (2021) found that a high degree of mutual emotional and practical support from parents was associated with EAS being more likely to plan for care of their sibling with schizophrenia in the future. The authors posited that “intergenerational solidarity” (p. 1615) and sharing resources are reasons why EAS who are supported by their parents are more likely to support their siblings in the future.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The realities of problem‐solving for emerging‐adult siblings of individuals with schizophrenia

2023

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ObjectiveThis researchers examined how emerging‐adult siblings of people with schizophrenia navigate problem‐solving and decision‐making.BackgroundNavigating more complex problems is a critical part of emerging adult development, although it can be complicated by stress, conflict, lack of self‐efficacy, and lack of family support. Understanding the development of problem‐solving and decision‐making of emerging‐adult siblings of people with schizophrenia development of these key competencies can aid in understanding how they navigate adulthood while contending with a stressful family environment.MethodIn‐depth interviews with 23 individuals between 18 and 30 years of age were conducted to explore problem‐solving, decision‐making, and family relationships.ResultsFindings suggest that participants who had supportive family or romantic relationships felt as if they were able to resolve their problems. They were likely to use cognitive strategies or advice from other people to resolve their issues. Participants who experienced a lack of support appeared to have more difficulty problem‐solving and decision‐making.ConclusionEmerging‐adult siblings of individuals with schizophrenia who had adequate family or spousal/partner support reported being more successful in formulating a problem‐solving strategy than participants as opposed to those who felt more isolated.ImplicationsThe study has implications for future researchers, such as the examination of other developmental stages and the need to examine why some emerging‐adult siblings were able to develop supportive romantic relationships more easily than participants who had similarly conflictual or ambivalent familial relationships.

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Personal Loss, Parental Relationships, and Caregiving Intentions among Adult Siblings of Individuals with Mental Illness

Cited by 4 publications

References 36 publications

Filling the Void: The Role of Adult Siblings Caring for a Brother or Sister With Severe Mental Illness

Filling the Void: The Role of Adult Siblings Caring for a Brother or Sister With Severe Mental Illness

Physiological stress responses to mental illness narratives.

The realities of problem‐solving for emerging‐adult siblings of individuals with schizophrenia

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