Resilience in families in which a member has been diagnosed with schizophrenia

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The primary aim of this study was to identify family resilience qualities that families use toadapt after a member has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Family resilience refers to thefamily's ability to adjust and adapt after a crisis. A secondary aim of this study was todetermine whether there are significant differences between groups with regard tobiographical variables (i.e. relationship to the ill member, home language, racial groups,family structure, and annual household income) and potential resilience variables. Theprimary theory utilised in this study was proposed by McCubbin and McCubbin (1996a),namely the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, and thesecondary theory utilised is the Family Resilience Framework described by Walsh (2012).Qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed in order to answer the researchquestion. Data were collected from 51 participants, who represented 42 families. Familieswere recruited from three support groups within the Western Cape, South Africa. Qualitativedata were obtained through an open-ended question in which the participant was asked toindicate the strengths and resources used by the family to adapt after a member had beendiagnosed with schizophrenia. Resilience qualities within the qualitative data were identifiedthrough a process of thematic theme analysis. Quantitative data were collected using sevenself-report questionnaires, which collectively gave an indication of possible family resiliencequalities within the family. Quantitative data were analysed using a mixed model repeatedmeasures analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson's product-moment correlations, and a bestsubsetregression analysis. Ten statistically significant correlations were found betweenindependent variables and family adaptation. Nine of these variables had a significantpositive correlation with family adaptation, namely family income; the degree to which thefamily finds support in their community; special events and family time; the style ofcommunication during crises; positive communication patterns during crises; family hardiness; the ability of the family to work together and their internal strengths; positivereframing and ability to learn; and the internal locus of control within families. Only onenegative correlation with family adaptation was found, namely incendiary communicationduring times of crisis. The quantitative results were compared with the qualitative themes,and additional findings from the qualitative data were reported. An additional theme thatemerged from the qualitative analyses was factors relating to the diagnosed family member,and a subtheme, namely passive appraisal of a crisis. Differences were also found betweengroups with regard to the measured variables. It is evident from the findings that the identified qualities and resources may be used in interventions to strengthen other families inwhich a member has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University