Sense of Coherence and Quality of Life in Women Family Members of the Seriously Mentally Ill

Providing care to a family member with serious mental illness (SMI) can reduce a family\u27s quality of life. Quality of life, however, can be positively influenced by the caregiver\u27s sense of coherence (SOC). Antonovsky\u27s Salutogenic Health Model was examined in this secondary analysis of data from 60 women family members of adults with SMI. The results indicated that greater perceived stress decreased SOC and QoL, greater SOC enhanced QoL, and SOC partially mediated the effects of perceived stress on QoL. The findings suggest the need for reducing stress and strengthening SOC to promote optimal QoL for family members of adults with SMI

Resilience in Adolescents Who Survived a Suicide Attempt from the Perspective of Registered Nurses in Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities

The number of deaths by suicide has increased over the last few years. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore components of resilience in adolescents who survived a suicide attempt from the perspective of nine psychiatric nurses. Resilience was used as a guiding conceptual framework which proposes that resilience is the interplay between risk and protective factors. Three categories emerged including risk factors, protective factors, and future recommendations of suicide prevention strategies. The perspectives gained from this study will help develop nursing interventions for adolescents to overcome risk factors and to build on their protective factors

Risk and Protective Factors in the Lives of Caregivers of Persons With Autism: Caregivers’ Perspectives

PURPOSE The purpose of this descriptive exploratory study is to understand the experience of being a caregiver of a person with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the light of the resilience theory. METHODS Qualitative data were collected as a part of a larger quantitative study. Ninety-three caregivers completed this qualitative study and responded to the two open-ended questions. In the parent study, subjects were recruited by convenience sampling from the Interactive ASD Network (IAN). FINDINGS The identified categories appeared to reflect three distinct categories consistent with the resilience theory, labeled as follows: risk factors, protective factors, and overlapping factors. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS These findings help to inform the planning of tailored interventions to enhance caregivers’ resilience

Factors Associated With Perceived Burden, Resourcefulness, and Quality of Life in Female Family Members of Adults With Serious Mental Illness

BACKGROUND: Each year, 54 million American adults are affected by serious mental illness. Most of these persons depend on female family members for support or assistance, and unless these women are resourceful, they may experience considerable burden, stigma by association, depressive thoughts, and poor quality of life. OBJECTIVE:In this study, we examined the associations between characteristics of female family members (age, race, education), adults with serious mental illness (age, diagnosis), and the family situation (relationship, living arrangements, care provided) and caregivers\u27 burden, stigma, depressive cognitions, resourcefulness, and quality of life.STUDY DESIGN:In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 60 female relatives of adults with serious mental illness provided demographic information and completed established measures of the study variables.RESULTS:We discuss associations between contextual variables and process regulators, resourcefulness, and quality of life.CONCLUSIONS:The results highlight the importance of targeting interventions for caregivers of adults with serious mental illness who are parents, caregivers of younger seriously mentally ill persons in earlier stages of diagnosis, and caregivers of persons who have bipolar disorde

Resilience in Family Members of Persons with Serious Mental Illness

This integrative review summarizes current research on resilience in adult family members who have a relative with a diagnosed mental disorder that is considered serious. Within the context of resilience theory, studies identifying risk/vulnerability and positive/protective factors in family members are summarized, and studies examining seven indicators of resilience, including acceptance, hardiness, hope, mastery, self-efficacy, sense of coherence, and resourcefulness, are described. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for future research are presented

Relationships Among Perceived Burden, Depressive Cognitions, Resourcefulness, and Quality of Life in Female Relatives of Seriously Mentally Ill Adults

Providing care and support to a seriously mentally ill (SMI) family member can have deleterious effects on one\u27s health and quality of life. This study explored relationships among perceived burden, depressive cognitions, resourcefulness, and quality of life in 60 African-American and Caucasian women family members of SMI adults. Caucasians reported greater burden than African-Americans; the groups were similar in depressive cognitions, resourcefulness, and quality of life. In Caucasians and African-Americans, burden correlated with depressive cognitions and both correlated with poorer mental health. In African-Americans, burden also correlated with lower personal resourcefulness and both correlated with poorer mental health. The findings suggest a mediating role by depressive cognitions for both groups and by resourcefulness in African-Americans. Thus, both groups of women may benefit from positive thinking while African-Americans also may benefit from learning personal resourcefulness skills

Mediating Effects of Positive Thinking and Social Support on Suicide Resilience

Suicide has been the second leading cause of death for 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States since 2011. The stress experienced by undergraduate college students has the potential to increase one’s risk for suicide. Resilience theory was used as a theoretical framework to examine the interplay between risk and protective factors. A cross-sectional and correlational design was used to assess the mediating effects of positive thinking and/or social support on suicide resilience in 131 college students 18 to 24 years old who completed an online survey. The study found an indirect effect of self-esteem on suicide resilience through positive thinking and social support indicating that as self-esteem increases, positive thinking and social support also increase, which leads to an increase in resilience. The study also found a direct effect of self-esteem, positive thinking, and social support on suicide resilience. The findings inform the development of tailored interventions to build suicide resilience in college students

Effects of Teaching Resourcefulness and Acceptance on Affect, Behavior, and Cognition of Chronically Ill Elders

This clinical trial examined changes in affect, behavior, and cognition in 176 chronically ill elders who were randomly assigned to Resourcefulness Training (RT), Acceptance Training (AT), or Diversional Activities (DA). The RT group improved on affect (t(1,42) = 4.91; p \u3c .001) and cognition (t(1,42) = 2.03; p\u3c .05) and these effects lasted 12 weeks. The AT group improved on affect (t(1,36) = 3.08; p \u3c .01), but this improvement did not persist. The RT and AT groups both showed positive behavior changes after six weeks. There were no changes in the DA group. The findings suggest that teaching elders resourcefulness and acceptance of chronic conditions may promote healthy functioning and improve their quality of life

Psychometric Properties of the Positive Thinking Skills Scale among College Students

Suicide continues to be in the top leading causes of death among college students. Positive thinking has been linked to increasing health outcomes and decreasing the effects of stress. The psychometric properties of the 8-item Positive Thinking Skills Scale (PTSS) has not been tested in American college students. The study used resilience as the theoretical framework. In 131 students, internal consistency and construct validity was supported. The Cronbach\u27s alpha of 0.86 and significant correlation with measures of suicide resilience, perceived social support, and self-esteem demonstrated good reliability and validity. The findings of the study provide directions for future suicide prevention efforts

Factors Affecting Disruption in Families of Adults With Mental Illness

PURPOSE: This study examined relationships between vulnerability/risk and protective factors, and family functioning in women family members of adults with serious mental illness. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using a descriptive, correlational design, this secondary analysis examined characteristics of the family member with mental illness (e.g., diagnosis, level of care) and measures of caregiver stigma and strain, client dependence, family disruption, sense of coherence, and resourcefulness. FINDINGS: Family disruption was greatest inwomenwho provided direct care and whose family member had major depression, followed by bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and panic disorder. Sense of coherence and resourcefulness were associated with lower family disruption, but did not mediate the effects of caregiver strain. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Interventions restricted to one family member may be insufficient for improving the family functioning