Internalised stigma, social support, coping and care-giving burden among Chinese family caregivers of adults diagnosed with schizophrenia: A parallel mediation analysis

Patient's disability and caregiver burden among Chinese family caregivers of individual living with schizophrenia: mediation effects of potentially harmful behavior, affiliate stigma, and social support

Evidence on the associations between patient's disability and caregiver burden among Chinese family caregivers of individual living with schizophrenia is lacking. This study aimed at explore the underlying mechanisms between patient's disability and caregiver burden among Chinese family caregivers of individual living with schizophrenia. A cross-sectional study was carried out in four Chinese cities (Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen), between April, 2021 and March, 2022. A total of 493 patients and their family caregivers were invited to report related data. The Zarit burden interview, WHODAS 2.0, the Potentially harmful behavior scale, the Affiliate Stigma Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of perceived social support were used to collect data. Linear regression analysis and bootstrapping analysis were conducted. The adjusted regression results showed that patients' disability (B = 0.616; 95% CI: 0.479-0.753), potentially harmful behavior on caregivers (B = 0.474; 95% CI: 0.232-0.716), and caregiver's low social support (B = -0.079; 95% CI: -0.158- -0.002), high level of affiliate stigma (B = 13.045; 95% CI: 10.227-15.864) were associated with higher level of caregiver burden (p < 0.05). In the mediation model, the direct path from patient's disability to caregiver burden (B = 0.428, β = 0.371, p < 0.001) was significant and positive. Patient's disability was indirectly associated with caregiver burden through patient's potentially harmful behavior, caregiver's affiliate stigma, and social support, the standardized regression coefficients ranged from 0.026-0.049 (p < 0.05). Patient's potentially harmful behavior, caregiver's affiliate stigma, and social support mediated the relationship between patients' disability and caregiver burden. Future intervention studies designed to target these three factors may be beneficial for family caregivers of persons living with schizophrenia.

Factors associated with parental burden among parents of children with food allergies in China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with parental burden among parents of children with food allergies (FA) in China.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The participants were recruited through the internet and one child health centre of a tertiary hospital in Changsha, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 346 parents of children with FA were recruited using a convenience sampling method. After excluding the invalid questionnaires, 330 questionnaires were included for the analysis.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The data of general and disease-specific information of children with FA and their parents, as well as parental burden, social support and coping style of parents, were collected using a self-developed questionnaire and standard measurement tools with good psychometric properties. Univariate analysis and multivariate stepwise regression analysis were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

Financial affordability regarding their children's FA and parents' social support were key protective factors against parental burden (β=-0.224, p<0.001 and β=-0.226, p<0.001, respectively). This study also found that parents' working conditions, the number of highly suspected food allergens, the number of children's FA-affected systems and whether children took amino acid milk powder were the factors associated with parental burden.

CONCLUSIONS

Health professionals should pay more attention to parents who are not at work and whose children have more highly suspected food allergens and more FA-affected systems because these parents often have a higher parental burden. Furthermore, it is important to improve financial support for children's FA and social support for parents of children with FA to decrease their parental burden.