Abstract
Siblings of persons with mental illness who assume primary caregiving roles experience substantial and tangible economic impacts associated with this responsibility. This study investigated mailed survey responses collected from 156 adult siblings of persons with mental illness from New York State to examine instrumental costs associated with providing support to siblings with illness. Genders of both siblings, severity of the relatives’ mental illness, and number of surviving parents in the family distinguished those occupying primary caregiving responsibility from those not in primary roles. Current caregivers incurred greater instrumental costs in the form of financial expenses, time spent in care activities, and crisis involvement than did those who were not primary care providers. Additional demographic and behavioral factors related to siblings with and without illness were associated with specific dimensions of instrumental expenditure. As siblings become increasingly engaged in caregiving, social service professionals must assume leadership in promoting programs and policies that meaningfully support family involvement for relatives with mental illness.
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Acknowledgments
The research reported in this article was supported by a grant from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). Dr. Lohrer also received support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant T32HD007489. We thank the journal editors and reviewers for their insightful comments and assistance with the preparation of this manuscript. We are especially grateful to the siblings who participated in this research and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for their support of this study.
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Steven P. Lohrer is affiliated with the University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, USA.
Ellen P. Lukens is affiliated with the Columbia University, New York, USA.
Helle Thorning is affiliated with the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, USA.
Address correspondence to Ellen P. Lukens, Ph.D., Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA; e-mail: el19@columbia.edu
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Lohrer, S., Lukens, E. & Thorning, H. Economic Expenditures Associated with Instrumental Caregiving Roles of Adult Siblings of Persons with Severe Mental Illness. Community Ment Health J 43, 129–151 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-005-9026-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-005-9026-3