Violence and the Costs of Caring for a Family Member with Severe Mental Illness

• Published in: Journal of health and social behavior Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 318 - 333
• Main Author: Thompson, Maxine Seaborn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA American Sociological Association 01.09.2007; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aggression; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; Behavior; Behavior modeling; Behavior Problems; Biological and medical sciences; Caregiver Burden; Caregivers; Caregivers - economics; Caregivers - psychology; Carers; Caring; Compliance (Psychology); Cost of Illness; Costs; Crime Victims; Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); Distress and Mental Illness; Drug Therapy; Experiential Learning; Family (Sociological Unit); Family environment. Family history; Family members; Family Relationship; Family Structure; Female; Gender Differences; Health Care Surveys; Humans; Income; Individual Characteristics; Male; Medical sciences; Medication adherence; Medications; Mental Disorders; Mental Disorders - drug therapy; Mental Disorders - nursing; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Health; Mental Illness; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; North Carolina; Older people; Patient Compliance; Place of Residence; Predictor Variables; Psychological stress; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Severe Disabilities; Severity of Illness Index; Social behavior; Social Networks; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Social Support Groups; Stress Variables; Studies; Substance Abuse; Substance use; Victimization; Victims; Victims of Crime; Violence; North Carolina; Social environment; Human; Violence; Caregiver; Family environment; Mental disorder; Victimization; Social behavior disorder; Stress; Social support
• ISSN: 0022-1465; 2150-6000
• DOI: 10.1177/002214650704800308

Drawing on the stress paradigm and using data from the Duke Mental Health Study, this paper investigates the links between violence by and against persons with severe mental illness and their caregivers' financial burden (e.g., number of financial contributions and perceived financial strain). In addition to violence, substance use and medication noncompliance are included in a series of multivariate regression models predicting caregiver financial burden that include measures for disruptive behaviors, personal needs, social supports, and caregiver characteristics. The findings show that violent perpetration and violent victimization increase the number of financial contributions and perceived financial strain. Nonviolent victimization, in contrast, decreases caregiver financial burden. Number of financial contributions and perceived financial strain are greatest when the family member is violent and extremely disruptive or needs assistance with personal care. Neither substance use nor medication noncompliance contributed to caregiver financial burden. Co-residence, female sex, parenthood, and instrumental social support were also associated with financial burden.