Factors Associated with Wellbeing in Spouses of Chronic Schizophrenic Patients

Abstract

Chronic schizophrenia in a family member is a persistent source of distress to the family and caregivers. An increased number of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and burden have been reported in the persons involved in caregiving of schizophrenic patients. Sufficient data have been generated to quantify the caregivers’ burden and its correlates; but relatively less attention has been paid to the positive aspects such as wellbeing. This study is an attempt to fill this gap and identify a range of factors that are associated with the wellbeing of the spouses of chronic schizophrenic patients. 80 spouses (40 male and 40 female) were sampled from a psychiatric hospital using defined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Following tools were administered to collect the data: Brief Case Record Form, PGI Wellbeing Scale (Verma & Verma, 1989), Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale (Rehabilitation Committee of Indian Psychiatric Society, 2002), Positive & Negative Syndrome Scale (Kay et al 1987), Burden Assessment Schedule (Thara et al. 1998), Social Support Questionnaire (Nehra & Kulhara, 1987) and Coping Checklist (Rao et al. 1989). Out of an array of processed variables following variables emerged as significantly associated with the wellbeing in spouses of chronic schizophrenic patients – (1) Patients’ disability (2) Social support (3) Psychopathology (4) Burden of Care (5) Problem Solving –Coping (6) Emotion Focused – Distraction Positive Coping (7) Acceptance (8) Religion/Faith (9) Denial (10) Problem & Emotion Focused (11) Age of Spouses in years (12) Patients Age in years (13) Age of onset of illness in patients in years (14) Duration of exposure to Spousal illness in years (15) Duration of Illness in Patients in years.