PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Bearing through it: How caregivers of mentally ill kin can cope

Study from Concordia, AMI-Quebec and University of British Columbia finds goal adjustment among family caregivers essential to prevent depressive symptoms

Bearing through it: How caregivers of mentally ill kin can cope
2011-05-20
(Press-News.org) This release is available in French.

Montreal, May 19, 2010 – Caring for a family member with a mental illness can be a taxing experience marked by personal sacrifices and psychological problems.

A new study from Concordia University, AMI-Québec and the University of British Columbia has found family caregivers can experience high levels of stress, self-blame, substance abuse and depressive symptoms – unless they refocus their priorities and lighten their load.

"Being the principal caregiver to a mentally ill family member is a stressor that often creates high levels of burden and contributes to depressive symptoms," says lead author Carsten Wrosch, a professor in the Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development.

"Caring for a relative with a mental illness can be strenuous – such caregivers can even be more burdened than caregivers of dementia patients," Wrosch continues. "That said, even in this situation, caregivers can experience high levels of wellbeing if they adjust their goals and use effective coping strategies."

Published in the May issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the investigation followed family caregivers over a 17-month period and found those who reset priorities fared better. The research team expected that caregivers who are capable of adjusting important life goals (e.g., career, vacation, etc.) would cope better with caregiving stress and that this resilient process would protect their emotional wellbeing.

"We found participants who had an easier time abandoning goals blamed themselves less frequently for problems associated with caregiving and used alcohol or drugs less frequently to regulate their emotions," says co-author Ella Amir, a Concordia graduate and executive director at AMI-Québec, a grassroots organization committed to helping families manage the effects of mental illness.

"Avoiding self-blame and substance use, in turn, was associated with less caregiver burden and depressive symptoms," continues Amir. "Being able to disengage from goals is protective against depressive symptoms, partly because it reduces the likelihood of coping through self-blame and substance use."

Caregivers can become overstretched

While pursuing new goals was found to provide purpose to family caregivers, taking on novel pastimes could add to their strain. "Caregivers can become stretched too thin if they pursue too many goals and that may distract them from addressing stress levels that elevate their burden," says Wrosch.

"Pursuing new goals is a double-edged sword," he adds. "It provides purpose, but also increases caregiving burden, since there are times when a family member's illness suddenly takes a turn for the worse. And stressors can crop up unexpectedly in other close relationships or in the workplace."

Of the 121 people who completed the study, most were about 60 years old and had cared for a relative for an average 16 years. What's more: 78 percent of caregivers were women and 22 percent were men; 57 percent had received an undergraduate degree or higher; 73 per cent were married or cohabitating with a partner; 41 per cent had relatives diagnosed with schizophrenia; 37 per cent had relatives diagnosed with a mood disorder; 22 per cent had relatives diagnosed with other mental health conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.



INFORMATION:

Partners in research:

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

About the study:

The paper, "Goal Adjustment Capacities, Coping, and Subjective Well-Being: The Sample Case of Caregiving for a Family Member With Mental Illness," published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, was co-authored by Carsten Wrosch and Ella Amir of Concordia University and Gregory E. Miller of the University of British Columbia.

Related links: Cited study: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/100/5/934 Concordia Department of Psychology: http://psychology.concordia.ca Centre for Research in Human Development: http://crdh.concordia.ca/homee.html AMI-Québec: www.amiquebec.org University of British Columbia: www.ubc.ca

Media contact:
Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
Senior advisor, external communications
Concordia University
Phone: 514-848-2424, ext. 5068
Email: s-j.desjardins@concordia.ca
Twitter: http://twitter.com/concordianews
Concordia news: http://now.concordia.ca


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Bearing through it: How caregivers of mentally ill kin can cope

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Report outlines successes, challenges in cancer prevention efforts

2011-05-20
ATLANTA – May 19, 2011 – A new report from the American Cancer Society details cancer control efforts and outlines improvements as well as gaps in preventive behavior that contribute to cancer mortality. Increasing rates of obesity observed since the early 1980s appear to have slowed in the past decade, particularly among women and girls, but nearly one in five adolescents and about one in three adults is obese. Vaccination against the virus that causes cervical cancer is up, but smoking declines have stalled. Meanwhile, proven cancer screening tests remain underutilized, ...

Cell phone use may reduce male fertility

2011-05-20
Men who have been diagnosed with poor sperm quality and who are trying to have children should limit their cell phone use. Researchers have found that while cell phone use appears to increase the level of testosterone circulating in the body, it may also lead to low sperm quality and a decrease in fertility. "Our findings were a little bit puzzling," says Rany Shamloul, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and lead researcher on the project. "We were expecting to find different results, but the results we did find suggest that there ...

Eat a protein-rich breakfast to reduce food cravings, prevent overeating later, researcher finds

Eat a protein-rich breakfast to reduce food cravings, prevent overeating later, researcher finds
2011-05-20
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A University of Missouri researcher has found that eating a healthy breakfast, especially one high in protein, increases satiety and reduces hunger throughout the day. In addition, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) the researchers found that eating a protein-rich breakfast reduces the brain signals controlling food motivation and reward-driven eating behavior. "Everyone knows that eating breakfast is important, but many people still don't make it a priority," said Heather Leidy, assistant professor in the MU Department of Nutrition and ...

Singles Dating Sites Enter a Whole New Era in the Upcoming Year: The Next Wave of Social Interaction and Relationships Has Arrived Through Online Dating Sites - Gather Dating Sites Information Here!

2011-05-20
Singles dating sites have grown so much in popularity over the past 10 years with the emergence of social networking sites. It is so much more important now to carefully research each singles dating sites before spending your hard earned money to find that special someone. There are literally hundreds of online dating sites that fill the pages of the Internet. In my many years of research I've evaluated singles dating site after singles dating site to come to one main conclusion. An online date site can have all the bells and whistles, but without a sufficient member ...

Dietary inorganic nitrate may reduce heart dysfunction caused by powerful anti-cancer drug

2011-05-20
RICHMOND, Va. (May 19, 2011) – Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that nutrient supplementation, like the kind that is found in leafy greens, spinach and lettuce, may reduce the damage to the heart caused by a powerful anti-cancer drug. Since the 1960s, the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin has remained a top choice for chemotherapy because of its superior efficacy to fight cancer. However, the drug is known to lead to permanent heart damage. Currently, there is no Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy for prevention or treatment of heart damage ...

OwnDepot Announces "Defend" a Revolutionary Event Marketing Program for Insurance Professionals

2011-05-20
OwnDepot, a home management solution and personal asset documentation protection company announced a new marketing program designed to keep home protection top of mind. The new program, called DEFEND searches for and follows catastrophic events, and offers free home protection services to those fortunate enough to be spared from any tragedy. "It is a bit like the storm chasers," said Brett Langlinais COO of OwnDepot. "Home Protection is top of mind right after a near miss. If you have a tornado in a nearby town or a flood in a nearby county, you realize that ...

Research ship Polarstern returns from Antartica

2011-05-20
Bremerhaven, 19 May 2011. The research vessel Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association will arrive back at its homeport of Bremerhaven after a seven-month expedition on Friday, 20 May. Nearly 200 researchers from institutes in 15 countries took part in the expedition. The oceanographers on board conducted measurements showing that warming of the water in the deep Weddell Sea continues further. The observations of biologists indicated that organisms in the Antarctic adapt very slowly to changes in the environment. The ...

Is fear deficit a harbinger of future psychopaths?

2011-05-20
Psychopaths are charming, but they often get themselves and others in big trouble; their willingness to break social norms and lack of remorse means they are often at risk for crimes and other irresponsible behaviors. One hypothesis on how psychopathy works is that it has to do with a fear deficit. A new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that children with a particular risk factor for psychopathy don't register fear as quickly as healthy children. The hypothesis ...

Casino Online Reveals Best Online Casinos

2011-05-20
Almost all online casinos offer attractive bonuses for drawing more players. For players it is essential to go beyond the attraction of big bonus and know comprehensively and objectively the best online casino environment to play in a totally safe and protected environment without having to forego their privacy while safeguarding personal information. With the help of the online casino reviews players can choose the most reliable casinos where you can get the highest casino experience. Casino Online has now updated the list of their best trusted online casinos. Only ...

Curcumin compound improves effectiveness of head and neck cancer treatment, U-M study finds

Curcumin compound improves effectiveness of head and neck cancer treatment, U-M study finds
2011-05-20
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A primary reason that head and neck cancer treatments fail is the tumor cells become resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a compound derived from the Indian spice curcumin can help cells overcome that resistance. When researchers added a curcumin-based compound, called FLLL32, to head and neck cancer cell lines, they were able to cut the dose of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin by four while still killing tumor cells equally as well as the higher dose of cisplatin ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching

New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia

Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus

Gantangqing site in southwest China yields 300,000-year-old wooden tools

Forests can’t keep up: Adaptation will lag behind climate change

Sturgeon reintroduction initiative yields promising first-year survival rate

Study: Babies’ poor vision may help organize visual brain pathways

Research reveals Arctic region was permafrost-free when global temperatures were 4.5˚ C higher than today

Novel insights into chromophobe renal cell carcinoma biology and potential therapeutic strategies

A breakthrough in motor safety: AI-powered warning system enhances capability to uncover hidden winding faults

Research teases apart competing transcription organization models

Connect or reject: Extensive rewiring builds binocular vision in the brain

Benefits and risks: informal use of antibiotics to prevent sexually transmitted infections on the rise in key populations in the Netherlands

New molecular tool sheds light on how cancer cells repair telomeres

First large-scale stem cell bank enables worldwide studies on genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease

[Press-News.org] Bearing through it: How caregivers of mentally ill kin can cope
Study from Concordia, AMI-Quebec and University of British Columbia finds goal adjustment among family caregivers essential to prevent depressive symptoms