Experience of caregiving: Relatives of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis
- Författare
- Tennakoon L, Fannon D, Doku V, O'Ceallaigh S, Soni W, Santamaria M, et al.
- Titel
- Experience of caregiving: Relatives of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis
- Utgivningsår
- 2000
- Tidskrift
- The British Journal of Psychiatry
- Volym
- 177
- Sidor
- 529-533
- Sammanfattning
Investigated the dimensions of caregiving and morbidity in caregivers of people with first-episode psychosis. Caregivers (aged 16–68 yrs) of 40 people with first-episode psychosis (aged 18–39 yrs) were interviewed at home about their experience of caregiving, coping strategies, and distress. Results found that caregivers used emotional and practical strategies to cope with participants' negative symptoms and difficult behaviors and experienced more worry about these problems. They increased supervision when the participants displayed difficult behaviors. 12% of caregivers were suffering from psychiatric comorbidity as defined by the General Heath Questionnaire (D. P. Goldberg and V. F. Hillier, 1979). Those living with the participant had more frequent visits to their general practitioner. It is concluded that at first-episode psychosis caregivers are already having to cope with a wide range of problems and are developing coping strategies. Caregivers worried most about difficult behaviors and negative symptoms in participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)