Burden of relatives and predictors of burden. Baseline results from the Munich 5–year–follow–up study on relatives of first hospitalized patients with schizophrenia or depression

In the present study, part of the Munich 5–year follow–up study on key relatives of first–hospitalized schizophrenic and depressive patients, baseline results with respect to relatives’ burden and predictors of burden are presented. Basing on a transactional stress model the following hypothesis was tested: the impact of the patients’ illness on their relatives’ stress outcome is moderated by the psychosocial resources of the relatives. Stress outcome was measured in terms of objective and subjective burden, well–being, self–rated symptoms and global satisfaction with life. Potential moderating variables included age and gender, generalized stress response and illness–related coping strategies, beliefs of control,perceived social support,personality factors, expressed emotion and life stressors. A total of 83 relatives, whose ill family members had been hospitalized in the Department of Psychiatry of the Ludwig–Maximilians–University of Munich for the first time, participated in the study. Findings did not entirely support the hypothesis. On the one hand, relatives’ stress outcome was independent of the objective stressors (severity of the illness, kind of symptoms, level of psychosocial functioning at admission). On the other hand, burden was significantly associated with several psychosocial resources and dispositions of the relatives. Multivariate linear regression analyses indicated that expressed emotion, emotion–focused coping strategies and generalized negative stress response are the most relevant predictors of burden. It is argued that a multidimensional approach in burden assessment is necessary and has relevant implications for improving family intervention strategies.