The impact of caring for family members with mental illnesses on the caregiver: a scoping review

Abstract

Summary A large number of multidisciplinary, qualitative and quantitative research suggests that providing care for family members with mental health illnesses can have both positive and negative effects on the carers’ wellbeing. However, to date a comprehensive overview and synthesis of literature that compares and contrasts positive and negative effects of family-caregiving on the carer is missing. To address this gap, this scoping review examines the effects of family-caregiving on carers’ wellbeing. A Boolean search generated a total of 92 relevant articles that were included in the analysis. The results suggest that, to understand the effects of family-caregiving on the carer’s mental and physical wellbeing, it is necessary to take a combination of situational and sociodemographic characteristics into consideration. Elderly, female, spousal-carers and primary-carers may be a group that is at risk of suffering from a lack of positive mental and physical wellbeing as a result of caring. However, the negative effects of caregiving can be balanced by extraversion, social support and religious or spiritual beliefs. Therefore, future interventions that aim to promote family caregivers’ wellbeing may need to take personality, particular circumstances as well as cultural and personal beliefs into consideration.

Self-efficacy and coping style in relation to psychological distress and quality of life in informal caregivers of patients with head and neck cancer: a longitudinal study

“…Passive coping may therefore be used as protection for disappointment. Furthermore, providing care for a family member with psychiatric disorders gives an increased risk for mental health conditions of the caregiver [40]. Caregivers used "expression of negative emotions" approximately as often as caregivers of patients with other diseases and of children with cancer [38,39].…”

Interaction between the Participation in and the Impact on Mental Health Service Users and Their Relatives of a Multicomponent Empowerment-Based Psychosocial Intervention

“…Relatives play an important role in the recovery process by providing moral and practical support as well as motivation [ 6 , 7 ]. If not properly addressed, the unexpected responsibility for the family can have deleterious consequences for both service users and their relatives [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Therefore, and within the progressive focus on community, it has become evident that service users in community settings as well as their relatives need specific interventions [ 11 ].…”

Caregiving experiences of family caregivers of patients with schizophrenia in a community: a qualitative study in Beijing

“…Semistructured in-depth interviews are widely used by healthcare researchers to capture respondents’ personal experiences and attitudes with open-ended questions 23. The interview guide was formed on the basis of stress-appraisal-coping framework10 and literature review 12–17. We conducted preliminary interviews with three participants.…”

“…Previous studies focused on the individual pressure and emotional burden of caregiving, but more comprehensive perspectives of caregiving experience are also needed. In terms of the impact of family caregiving, it is crucial to consider the unique personality, customs and traditions of each family unit 17. In Chinese culture, family is considered as the most important relationship for individuals.…”